Dear Darius:
Lone Peak Engineering has prototyped - in alumina ceramic, and other
ceramic materials, bones directly from human scan data. We have
demonstrated that we can produce these replicas to within +/- ten
thousandths and better than 90% of theoretical density for the alumina
ceramic material. This has been done on a purely research level.
However, the technology exists TODAY to do what you are asking.
We use the Velocity2 software package to produce our 3D reconstructions
directly from human CT scan data. We create the actual ceramic replica
using our CerLAM process, which is basically a modifided lamination
object manufactuing technique that runs ceramic materials that we produce
at our facility.
I have published several papers in this area. Our work is well
documented.
The major barrier to what you are requesting (and I am assuming you would
prefer that your uncle recieve a facial reconstruction that would involve
material very similar to the bone that is diseased) is the clinical work
required for medical approval and acceptance and the funding necessary to
implement the technology on a patient wide basis. Insurance companies
factor significantly into the equation.
Dr. Schmidt is aware of LPE's capabilities.
Good Luck!
Alair Grifin
CEO
Lone Peak Engineering, Inc.
alair@lonepeak.com
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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