Spring Mediated Cranioplasty for the Treatment of Craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis is a disorder characterized by the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures in the infant skull, resulting in an abnormal shape of the cranium. An effective surgical procedure for treatment of this disorder has been developed and is currently use called "Dynamic Spring Mediated Craniofacial Reshaping." This technique involves surgical removal of the fused suture and insertion of springs to expand the gap created by the suture removal in order to gradually reshape the skull to a more desirable shape. There were three primary objectives of this research: develop a device that could fabricate type 316 stainless steel wireform springs having consistent mechanical characteristics, evaluate the performance of the device, and develop a mathematical model to predict the mechanical characteristics of the fabricated springs. Use of the mathematical model facilitates further research to be performed that could determine the most effective use of the "Dynamic Spring Mediated Craniofacial Reshaping" surgical procedure.