Creation of 3D Printed Maxillofacial Phantom

For the tests, a 3D-printed replica of human facial anatomy (“maxillofacial phantom”) was designed and produced. Starting from real computed tomography datasets, the cranial, maxillary and mandibular bones were extracted with a semiautomatic segmentation pipeline [34 (link)] and a complete 3D virtual model of the skull was obtained (Figure 2). From the virtual model, a tangible phantom made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) was produced via 3D printing (3D printer Dimension Elite, Stratasys, Eden Prairie, MN, United States). The primary muscles of mastication (i.e., temporalis, medial pterygoid, lateral pterygoid and masseter) were added to the skull virtual model using Blender software, together with facial soft tissues (soft palate, tongue, gums), functional to the realistic simulation of the surgical procedure (Figure 2). To obtain the physical replicas of the muscles and soft tissues, ad hoc molds were designed, and 3D printed, then silicone casting was made using these molds. Finally, to achieve further realism, and to help keep the jaws in position, facial skin was also designed and produced using the silicone casting technique described above (Figure 2). The resulting maxillofacial phantom is depicted in Figure 3.