Introduction:
The tongue is one of the most commonly involved sites in the oral cavity and remains a serious health problem in many countries. The lateral border and the adjacent floor of the mouth area are the most prone to developing a malignancy 1. To achieve an optimal oncological outcome, the resection margins should at least be 5 mm in all dimensions. Surgeons can be deceived by the two-dimensional imaging modalities to map the tumour. With the 3rd dimension often being assessed clinically and intraoperative, surgeons may often over resect or end up compromising surgical margins 2. Although over resection is surgically safe, it results in the tongue losing a lot of its dynamic functions.
Modern technology has made 3D printing a reality. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology, which involves the generation of a Computer-Aided Design to create a 3D print by layering material one above the other. This technology is being widely used for planning bony reconstruction but has still not found much utility in soft tissue reconstruction. Having a 3D model to gauge the tumour extent can help not only the surgeon perform the ablative procedure, but also the patient and family to understand the dynamics behind the extent of resection. Discordance is often noticed between the anticipation of the patients and the final surgical outcome. A 3D assembly would help the reconstructive surgeon plan their reconstructive strategies better3.
Rehabilitating patients following glossectomy is an uphill task. A disconnect between preoperative planning of rehabilitation and its implementation often cripples the expertise of even a trained speech-language pathologist 4. A better understanding of the surgical defect by the rehabilitative team can help achieve realistic timeline based goals 5.
In the present work, we focus on the design of a 3D patient-specific biomechanical model used by us for comprehensive treatment planning and execution.