Facial reconstruction surgery aims to improve the most visible part of the human body by correcting the results of traumatic injury, disease, or aging. For the procedures to be successful, implants are often a key ingredient to create a natural-looking visage.

Now Dallas-based MedCAD, creators of AccuPlate patient-matched titanium implants, is using 3D printing to create reconstruction plates for the mandible and midface—allowing for “a shorter delivery window, as well as more geometries and features to address more surgical needs and complexities.”

“MedCAD’s expansion of 3D titanium printing capabilities has enabled us to reduce delivery times dramatically for our high-demand implants while offering more design features requested by our customers,” MedCAD Founder, President, and CEO Nancy Hairston said in a statement. “These improved turnaround times for each patient-specific plate can quickly provide surgeons with bespoke, creative reconstruction options within timeframes that were previously unavailable.”

‘The possibilities are virtually endless’

3D-printed AccuPlate titanium implants from MedCAD [Image: MedCAD]

MedCAD said the plates are available in thicknesses from 2 millimeters to 2.8 mm, and feature options including inferior border hooks, graft trays, and precise allowances for “off-the-shelf mesh” between the plate and mandible.

Additionally, locking and non-locking threaded plate features or 3D printed mesh features combined with the plate are now available, the company said, noting that its AccuPlate 3DTi implants can be delivered “in as few as five days” after surgeon approval.

“The goal of MedCAD’s portfolio of product solutions is to provide surgeons with customizable options that are as anatomically unique as the patients they help treat,” Hairston said. “With MedCAD’s technology in the hands of a creative surgeon, the possibilities are virtually endless, and outcomes are unmatched.” 

MedCAD launched in 2007 by founder with art background

Hairston’s background actually began not in medicine but in the art world. In 1990, she graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans with a degree in fine arts, specializing in sculpture. She began her career at Alias Research, a startup developing 3D special effects and animation software.

In 2000, Hairston co-founded Sensable Technologies, a company focused on 3D digital sculpting technology. The rise in 3D printing shifted her focus to product design applications.

In 2002, she founded VanDuzen Inc. Five years later, she launched MedCAD as a brand under VanDuzen. By then, Hairston says she had mastered a process called “digital sculpting,” which she used to design toys for Mattel and Disney.

A pivot to the medical space

Nancy Hairston

As 3D printing became prominent in medical technology, Hairston began to pivot MedCAD toward this emerging market. By 2009, this led to an initial focus on custom cranial implant research and development.

MedCAD went on to achieve its first FDA 510(k) clearance for the AccuShape custom PEEK cranial implant, marking the start of a “close partnership” with Dallas-based Osteomed/Acumed. 

In 2019, MedCAD received additional FDA 510(k) clearances for its AccuPlate mandibular reconstruction implant and 3D-printed titanium implants used in CMF and reconstructive surgeries, the company said.

To date, MedCAD says it has provided facial, mandibular, and cranial implants for more than 8,000 patients—each one “a patient-specific, custom solution using enhanced radiography, digital design, and 3D printing.”

The story was updated on Dec. 12, 2024, based on additional product line information from a company representative. 

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