Novel design for a customized, 3D-printed surgical template for thoracic spinal arthrodesis

Background The integration of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) tools and medicine is rapidly developing for designing medical devices. A novel design for a 3D-printed patient-specific surgical template for thoracic pedicle screw insertion, using a procedure based on reverse engineering, is presented. Methods The surgeon chooses the entry point on the vertebra. The optimal insertion direction and the size of the screws are defined via an algorithm on the basis of a patient-specific vertebra CAD model. The template features an innovative shape for a comfortable and univocal placement and a novel disengaging device. Results Three spinal fusions were performed to test the template. Excellent results were achieved in terms of the accuracy of the screw positioning, reduction in surgery duration, and number of X-rays. Conclusions A novel design for a customized, 3D-printed surgical template for thoracic spinal arthrodesis was presented, and improvements in terms of precision, duration, and safety were achieved without changing the standard procedure.