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.