A case study using the virtual environment for reconstructive surgery

This paper details the use of a Virtual Environment for Reconstructive Surgery (VERS) in the case of a 17 year-old boy with a severe facial defect arising from the removal of a softtissue tumor. Computed tomography (CT) scans were taken of the patient, the data were segmented, a mesh was generated, and this patient-specific mesh was used in a virtual environment by the surgeons for preoperative visualization of the defect, planning of the surgery, and production of a custom surgical template to aid in repairing the defect. This paper details the case of this patient, provides a background on the virtual environment technology used, discusses the difficulties encountered, and describes the lessons learned.