Computer Graphics Laboratory

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Medical

Introduction

Computer graphics has vast applications in the medical arena. We conduct research on facial modeling and simulation applied to dental treatments and craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate. Our goal is to facilitate medical treatments by developing novel, data-driven and reliable graphics methods.

Topics

Soft Tissue Simulation and Animation for Digital Dentistry

In this project, we develop methods for orthodontics and digital dentistry. In particular, we aim to simulate the teeth and soft tissue changes arising from the treatment in a physically consistent way. This allows for a precise planning of the orthodontic treatments, improving the outcomes and thus increasing the patient satisfaction. A second goal of the project is to photo-realistically visualize the treatment outcomes. This enables a better understanding of a patient's expectations, which is essential for treatment planning. To achieve these goals, we benefit from our research experience in capturing and digital modeling of human faces, and we collaborate with our industry partner Align Technology and the team of Prof. Irena Sailer from the University of Geneva.


Burden-Reduced Cleft Lip and Palate Care and Healing

Cleft lip and palate is the most frequent craniofacial malformation in newborns (1:700 births) with no existing effective preventive measures. Use of orthopedic plates reduces the cleft size, facilitating the surgery and potentially reducing the required number of surgeries. Our goal in this project is a fully digital and automated method of designing individual plates which are then fabricated using 3D printers. Inputs could be intraoral scans as well as smartphone videos of the intraoral geometry, which would facilitate the use of plate therapy in low-income countries. This project is funded by the Botnar Research Center for Child Health (BRCCH) and implemented in collaboration with the team of Dr. Andreas Müller from the University Hospital in Basel.


Infant Face Modeling

We build high-quality models of the human infant face and head learned from real datasets that are derived from the medical treatment of infants. Our AI-based solutions enable 3D patient modeling, visualization and simulation of malformation treatment. This facilitates treatment planning, decreases the burden on physicians and increases the satisfaction of patients. Together with our research partner Dr. Andreas Müller from the University Hospital in Basel we focus on common craniofacial malformations observed in infants.


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