A five-year-old girl from Seychelles who had a skull bone deformity was treated using advanced bone-melting SonicWeld technology at Balaji Craniofacial Hospital and Research Institute recently.
Cranio-facial surgeon S.M. Balaji said the child was born with a condition called Unicoronal Craniosysnostosis and Plagiocephaly. In this condition, there was a premature closure of the sutures of the skull, which hampered normal skull growth. It led to a facial deformity and posed a threat to brain development.
“The child went through several operations at other places but they were unsuccessful. To prepare for the surgery, I first made a 3-D printed model of the child’s skull and performed a mock surgery on it,” he said.
In the actual procedure, the skull was exposed, and the frontal bone brought forward. This would help accommodate growth.
The left eye socket, which was abnormally placed, was contoured and moved inward.
“The cut segments of the bone were joined using the SonicWeld system. In this technology, when the screw is turned using the screw driver, a small amount of electricity passes through the screw, melting it and allowing it to get fixed to the bone in the form of a fluid, after which it hardens. Since the technology is bio-reabsorbable, it dissolves gradually in three months and the patient can avoid a second surgery,” he said.
The advantage of this technology over conventional rigid bone plates and screws was that the latter could hamper normal growth and would also require a second surgery for their removal.
“The child has recovered now, and her family is very happy,” said Dr. Balaji.
MoU signed
The World Craniofacial Foundation has partnered with Balaji Craniofacial Hospital and Research Institute and has recently recognised it as its Asian partner.
Kenneth Salyer, adjunct professor at the Baylor School of Dentristry and founder of the World Craniofacial Foundation, flew down to Chennai to recognise the hospital and visited the facilities.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two for training, mentorship and facilities to be provided by the foundation while the hospital will provide surgeries to patients who need it at subsidised costs.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Vincent Meriton, vice-president of the Republic of Seychelles.
