CRANIOFACIAL COMPUTER-ASSISTED SURGICAL PLANNING AND SIMULATION

Computer-assisted planning and simulation of craniofacial surgery has progressed from development, through validation, and into clinical use . CT scans are transferred from the radiology department to a graphics workstation in the surgeon's office or laboratory, where data postpro cessing and visualization for anatomic evaluation and surgical simulat ion are performed. Quantitative and qualitative comparative analyses b etween the plan/simulation and the actual postoperative result provide the feedback that validates or refutes the preoperative assessment an d simulated intervention. The optimum surgical solution can be chosen from many possibilities. Interactive computer-assisted surgical simula tion is also useful for morbidity-free training of inexperienced surge ons.