Development project of the IBB Technology Development Fund paves the way for improved surgical method

Current skull model prototype (Synthes, Charité)The development of a 3-dimensional children’s skull model can facilitate the treatment of skull malformations in newborn infants. The concomitant research project was launched at the beginning of the year. The Technology Development Fund of the Investitionsbank Berlin is funding this promising undertaking to the tune of 500.000 euro.

Every year, 650 children are born with a skull deformity in Germany. Approximately one in every thousand babies born is affected. So-called “craniosynostosis” leads to a distinctly noticeable distortion of the skull. Treatment of this genetically-determined condition involves a complex surgical procedure that is fraught with risk for the infant. During general anesthesia, portions of the skull must be reshaped and reassembled to create an optimal head shape. Up to now, this procedure’s success depended solely on the personal aesthetic expectations and skill of the surgeon. An invention by Dr. Ernst-Johannes Haberl, a pediatric neurosurgeon and private lecturer at the Charité University Hospital Berlin, can soon be used to simplify the elaborate surgical procedure. By employing a skull model that simulates the optimal head shape and is used to model the skull bones, risks can be minimized and better aesthetic results can be achieved.

The 3-dimensional prototype of a skull model, which is already in place, will be refined over the next two years as part of a further development project. The objective is to offer the surgeon in charge a wide selection of skull models from which to choose the best suited model for the infant. Data sets from healthy skull forms must be stored and analyzed to develop the so-called “standard models”. Thus, in cooperation with item, a well-known, Münster-based product developer in the field of medical technology, a selection of skull models for every typical age group for the surgical procedure will be developed at the Charité. “After four to six hours of surgery, our little patients reach their physical limits“according to Haberl. “The duration of surgery can be reduced by at least 25 percent when a skull model is used as this negates the necessity of an iterative approach to finding the optimal skull shape during surgery“. Especially less experienced teams will benefit from the model technique by achieving better aesthetic results and avoiding possible corrective surgical interventions at a later time.

The Technology Development Fund of the Investitionsbank Berlin, which was established at the beginning of 2011, is investing approximately half a million euro in the development of the skull model. According to Dr. Wilhelm Reiß, managing director of the investment company, “its relevance and enormous potential were prerequisites for this investment“. Project control will be assumed by ipal’s technology development team, which has already evaluated the project on behalf of the fund and recognized its potential clinical value at an early stage.

Currently Harberl is also involved in another project to research cultural influences on plastic surgery involving the skull. As part of the research project “SchädelBasisWissen”, which is collaborating with the Center for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, he seeks insight into the cultural, societal and scientific influences on concrete aesthetic decisions made in the operating room. The Volkswagen Foundation is committing 750 000 euro to this trans-disciplinary research project in conjunction with the "Key Issues in the Humanities" funding initiative.


Please go to the ipal website for information on IBB TEF
 

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