Research Projects

Cranial/skull defects are often caused by accidents, trauma, diseases, infection, injury, or malignancy. To restore or repair such defects, cranial implants or skull reconstruction procedures are required for protecting intracranial structures and normalizing cerebral hemodynamics. To relieve Intracranial Pressure (ICP) and save patients inflicted with severe head injury, surgeons restore cranial defects by cranioplasty, using the preserved bone of a patient. In case of non-availability of natural bone, cranial implants are fabricated using various biocompatible materials such as Medical Grade Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V), Polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and so on . Patient-Specific Implant (PSI) manufactured using 3D printing, 3D imaging technologies like Computerised Tomography (CT)/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and 3D modelling & Analysis software, are preferred over conventional methods of manufacturing due to their limitations for engineering implant shape, size, weight, density and so on. Cranial fixation is a procedure in which bone fragments or grafts and bone flaps are fixed to the cranium to offer stable closure in surgery [9]. The effectiveness of attachment of an implant material with a defective skull bone, is also influenced by the joints and fixture arrangements at the interface. These fixtures can be of various types, materials and with different joining arrangements in terms of location and orientation. An effective fixation design for attaching an implant with the skull bone, requires multiple design operations to arrive at an optimum conclusion with respect to aspects of- material, shapes, topology, orientation angles, ease of fitment, mechanical strength, stress and deformation against boundary condition. To explore effectiveness of different types of implant materials that can be attached with a defected skull, a Finite Element (FE) Model needs to be generated and simulated for different boundary conditions for evaluating an optimized fixation assembly design for plates and screws. In this project, it is proposed to develop medical grade metal-based fixtures and polymeric implants, for reconstructing a cranial defect, by utilizing state-of-the-art modelling & analysis tools and 3D printing techniques for optimizing mechanical strength, weight, fitment and cost of the implant as well as fixture.