From: Andy Christensen (andy@medicalmodeling.com)
Date: Fri Oct 31 2003 - 20:12:04 EET
**This was posted earlier but never made it to the list, I'm re-posting on
behalf of Huntsman. - Andy C.**
PRESS RELEASE
RenShape SL Models Aid Surgical Separation of Egyptian Conjoined Twins
EAST LANSING, Michigan, October 21, 2003 -- Advanced medical modeling
materials and stereolithography (SL) technology played a key role in the
surgical separation of two-year-old conjoined twins last week at Children's
Medical Center in Dallas. During a year of planning, a team of surgeons
relied on a series of three-dimensional SL models of the twins' anatomies to
prepare for virtually every aspect of the 34-hour surgery.
Many of the models were built from a unique selectively colorable,
medical-grade stereolithography material known as RenShape SL Y-C 9300
supplied by Huntsman Advanced Materials, RenShape Solutions Tooling Group.
The photopolymer allowed Medical Modeling LLC, Golden, Colorado, to use MRI
and CT scans done on Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim to build intricate models
including clear skull sections featuring red-tinted areas that mapped the
maze of blood vessels shared by the twins.
According to Andy Christensen, president of Medical Modeling, "Several dozen
models were made of the twins' bones, skin, brains and vasculature for use
by the world-class team of surgeons throughout a year of intensive surgical
preparation." Models made from RenShape SL Y-C 9300 photopolymer conform
to FDA-approved USP 23 Class VI bio-compatibility tests, are sterilizable
and exhibit outstanding accuracy. Moreover, the SL material produces models
that are durable enough to withstand ongoing handling over extended time
periods by surgeons and other medical team members.
Mahesh Kotnis, SL marketing manager at Huntsman, adds, "Innovative RenShape
SL materials are used worldwide for a diverse range of modeling
applications. However, as the only manufacturer of medical-grade SL
materials, RenShape Solutions has the rewarding opportunity to offer
products that have a direct impact on human life. We are very pleased and
proud to have played a role in the impressive surgery that separated Ahmed
and Mohamed."
Now in post-operative recovery, the twins are making gradual progress.
Mohamed has improved enough to be upgraded to "serious"; Ahmed is in
critical but stable condition at Children's Medical Center. (As of 10/31/03
both children have been upgraded further to "guarded" status, more
information and pictures at www.childrens.com)
Stereolithography is a process that uses a CAD-driven laser in combination
with a vat of liquid photopolymer. As the laser light traces individual
cross-sections of a design on the surface of the light-curable plastic, the
material hardens. A platform suspended in the vat drops down a fraction of
a millimeter and the laser light traces the next cross-section. The process
repeats, curing layer after layer of photopolymer, until a three-dimensional
model is produced.
For more information about medical modeling, contact: Andy Christensen,
Medical Modeling LLC, 17301 West Colfax Avenue, Suite 300, Golden, Colorado
80401, 303-273-5344, e-mail: info@medicalmodeling.com, website:
www.medicalmodeling.com <http://www.medicalmodeling.com/> .
For more information about RenShape SL Y-C 9300 photopolymer and other
advanced SL materials supplied by the RenShape Solutions Tooling Group of
Huntsman, contact: Mahesh Kotnis, Huntsman Advanced Materials, 4917 Dawn
Avenue, East Lansing, Michigan 48823, 517-351-5900, e-mail:
mahesh_kotnis@huntsman.com, website: www.renshape.com
<http://www.renshape.com/> .
Conjoined twins, Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim have lived at Medical City Dallas
Hospital since June 22, 2002 while surgeons planned the complex surgery that
would separate the boys and allow them to live independent of each other.
The surgery was completed successfully at Children's Medical Center Dallas
on October 12, 2003. (Photo by WFAA-TV, Dallas)
Selectively colorable RenShape SL Y-C 9300 photopolymer was used to produce
an anatomical model of the vascular structures of the twins' brains in
relation to the surrounding bones. Data for the model was based on
information from MRI and CT scans performed in Dallas. (Photo and model by
Medical Modeling LLC)
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