Colored Temporal Bone Model Created by Additive Manufacturing

• Main Authors: Wanibuchi, M., Akiyama, Y., Sugino, T., Noshiro, S., Fukushima, T., Friedman, A. H., Mikuni, N.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2193-6331; 2193-634X
• DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1314347

Mastoidectomy on cadavers affords the surgeon a chance to learn the precise anatomy of the temporal bone. We reported a skull model that reproduced the detailed anatomy within the skull base using an additive manufacturing technique to train the mastoidectomy without any ethical, legal, and biohazardous issues. However, this model had a problem—the mastoid air cells were filled with powder that was a base material of the model. In addition, it was difficult to detect the semicircular canals because these key structures were not colorized. The model has been refined so that a trainee could easily recognize the semicircular and the facial canals. At first, the temporal bone model was separated at the two flat surfaces on the sagittal plane of the facial canal and the lateral semicircular canal. After the powder within these canals and the mastoid air cells was blown out, the insides of these canals were dyed. The two pieces of the model were glued and dissected using a high-speed drill under the microscope. The amount of powder material within the mastoid was minimal. The colorized semicircular and facial canals were easily recognized during the drilling. This colored temporal bone model is considered to be more useful for training of the mastoidectomy procedure than the previous model.