Three-dimensional scanning technique in the congenital microtia reconstruction with tissue expander

摘要

To solve the problems of the color, texture mismatch and lack of sensory after skin graft, Brent applied tissue expansion technique in microtia reconstruction in 1980. More recently, several groups from China and Korea reported their successful experiences of soft tissue expansion technique in microtia reconstruction with excellent results and low complication rate.[1] One of the critical questions is whether there is enough skin or not after the expansion. Unfortunately, this question may only be answered by an empirical judgment from the experienced surgeons. In this article, the authors introduced the preliminary results of a new objective and quantitative measuring system by using three-dimensional (3D) surface scanning technique to help the surgeons in microtia reconstruction with tissue expansion technique.