Numerical modeling of the traction process in the treatment for Pierre-Robin Sequence.
BACKGROUND
The goal of this numerical study was to identify the results of modulated growth simulation of the mandibular bone during traction in Pierre-Robin Sequence (PRS) treatment.


METHODS
Numerical simulation was conducted in the Ansys 16.2 environment. Two FEM (finite elements method) models of a newborn's mandible (a spatial and a flat model) were developed. The procedure simulated a 20-week traction period. The adopted growth measure was mandibular length increase, defined as the distance between the Co-Pog anatomic points used in cephalometric analysis.


RESULTS
The simulation calculations conducted on the developed models showed that modulation had a significant influence on the pace of bone growth. In each of the analyzed cases, growth modulation resulted in an increase in pace. The largest value of increase was 6.91 mm. The modulated growth with the most beneficial load variant increased the basic value of the growth by as much as 24.6%, and growth with the least beneficial variant increased by 7.4%.


CONCLUSIONS
Traction is a simple, minimally invasive and inexpensive procedure. The proposed algorithm may enable the development of a helpful forecasting tool, which could be of real use to doctors working on Pierre-Robin Sequence and other mandibular deformations in children.
Department of Mechanics, Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland. Electronic address: jakub.slowinski@pwr.edu.pl.
Jakub J
JJ
Słowiński
Department of Mechanics, Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland.
Aleksandra
A
Czarnecka
D000465:Algorithms; D002508:Cephalometry; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008334:Mandible / Q000254:growth & development; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010855:Pierre Robin Syndrome / Q000628:therapy*; D014143:Traction
Bone traction; Mandibular bone; Modulated growth; Pierre-Robin Sequence