Virtual Surgery: Computational Methods and Simulations for Facial Reconstructions

Presented by Court Cutting

This lecture is part of the IPAM workshop Scientific Computing Applications in Surgical Simulation of Soft Tissues and is cosponsored by the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT).

Time and Location:

January 9, 2008, 4:30 pm
CNSI Auditorium (maps and directions)

Refreshments will be served at 4:00 pm
Reception in IPAM building following the lecture

For more information about this lecture (including directions and parking) and other activities at IPAM, visit our website, or call us at (310) 825 4755.

Abstract:

This talk will cover a personal history of this surgeon who has attempted over the past thirty years to apply computer methods to the surgical care of patients with facial malformations. The Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Medical Center was the first center funded by the National Institutes of Health to study children with severe facial malformations. Evaluation of treatment outcomes required the development of statistical methods for the evaluation of smoothly curving three dimensional surfaces. This naturally led to numerical “error terms”when fitting a particular patient to normative models for the purposes of surgical simulation. As numerical surgical planning evolved, it became necessary to develop methods for delivering coordinated intraoperativeprecision. This led to the use of intraoperativevision systems and surgical robotics. Coincident with the craniofacial effort was an outreach program to repair cleft lip and palate in developing countries. Teaching the complex three dimensional movements required to achieve good results is difficult. We began using a three dimensional computer graphics animation program, Maya®, to describe these procedures. Later these procedures were abstracted into video game format to allow the student to explore these procedures in an interactive way.

The Speaker:

Court Cutting is Professor of Plastic Surgery at New York University Medical Center. Over the past 20 years his surgical practice has been devoted to the care of children with facial malformations. Dr. Cutting has developed an intraoperativevirtual reality system for the tracking and positioning of facial skeletal fragments. He began working with the Smile Train charity in 1999 to develop training tools to teach cleft lip and palate surgery to doctors in third world countries.

Contact Us:

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM)
Attn: VS2008
460 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles CA 90095-7121
Phone: 310 825-4755
Fax: 310 825-4756
Email: vs2008@ipam.ucla.edu
Website: http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/vs2008/