Patient-Specific Planning in Head and Neck Reconstruction Including Virtual Reality

This chapter describes the evolution of surgical planning techniques for head and neck reconstruction, from two-dimensional radiography, to volumetric CT and 3D visualization, to computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and the digital workflows designed to facilitate the execution of the operation according to the pre-surgical plan. The surgical advantages of CAD/CAM are described, as well as the limitations. This chapter describes current workflows and the next generation of surgical planning software, utilizing state-of-the art hardware and software to optimize the visualization and manipulation of patient-specific imaging for preoperative planning.