ARTIFICIAL PETROUS BONE PRODUCED BY STEREOLITHOGRAPHY FOR MICROSURGICAL DISSECTING EXERCISES

Training in microsurgery of the middle ear requires dissecting to be c arried out on petrous bone, Human petrous bone structures are not avai lable in adequate quantity to permit extensive practicing, Using synth etic resins, true reproductions of petrous bone can be obtained by mea ns of a stereolithographic method, yielding structures of the petrous part which are highly similar to human bone, Digital data sets are obt ained from spiral CT scans, and transferred to CAD systems such that, using stereolithography, petrous bone facsimiles are produced on the p arametric model, Any number of such models of an original can be produ ced. Thus, identical structures can be made available for a wide range of uses, Exercises conducted on artificial petrous bone so produced a re equivalent to those carried out on human structures, in terms of ma terial properties and visualisation of anatomic details.