Methods and systems for producing an implant
A computer implemented method for determining the 3-dimensional shape of an implant to be implanted into a subject includes obtaining a computer readable image including a defective portion and a non-defective portion of tissue in the subject, superimposing on the image a shape to span the defective portion, and determining the 3-dimensional shape of the implant based on the shape that spans the defective portion.
1. A method of fabricating a medical device, the method comprising:
obtaining data regarding a shape of the medical device, wherein the shape is determined by:
(a) creating a computer-based three-dimensional representation of a target tissue from computer readable image data of the target tissue wherein the target tissue comprises a portion with a defect and a portion without a defect;
(b) providing a computer-based three-dimensional template to span the defective portion;
(c) altering the shape of the three-dimensional template to fit at least a portion of a surface of the computer-based three-dimensional representation; and
(d) determining the shape of the medical device at least partially based on the shape of the altered three-dimensional template that spans the defective region to obtain the data regarding the shape of the medical device; and
fabricating the medical device at least partially based on using the obtained data regarding the shape of the medical device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image data is obtained from image slices of the target tissue.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image data is obtained as one or more voxels of the target tissue.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical device is an implant to be implanted in a subject.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein fabricating the medical device comprises three dimensional printing at least a portion of the device.