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3D finite element model for treatment of cleft lip

Cleft lip is a congenital facial deformity with high occurrence rate in China. Surgical procedure involving Millard or Tennison methods is usually employed for treatment of cleft lip. However, due to the elasticity of the soft tissues and the mechanical interaction between skin and maxillary, the occurrence rate of facial abnormality or dehisce is still high after the surgery, leading to multiple operations of the patient. In this study, a framework of constructing a realistic 3D finite element model (FEM) for the treatment of cleft lip has been established. It consists of two major steps. The first one is the reconstruction of a 3D geometrical model of the cleft lip from scanning CT data. The second step is the build-up of a FEM for cleft lip using the geometric model, where the material property of all the tetrahedrons was calculated from the CT densities directly using an empirical curve. The simulation results demonstrated (1) the deformation procedure of the model step-by-step when forces were applied, (2) the stress distribution inside the model, and (3) the displacement of all elements in the model. With the computer simulation, the minimal force of having the cleft be repaired is predicted, as well as whether a given force sufficient for the treatment of a specific individual. It indicates that the proposed framework could integrate the treatment planning with stress analysis based on a realistic patient model.