Presentation of the first personalized virtual planning and navigation system for craniosynostosis surgery

Hospital Gregorio Marañón and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have presented a navigation system that will improve planning, precision, and personalisation in surgical correction of craniosynostosis (a congenital defect causing cranial malformations). Developed by doctors and engineers from both institutions, it combines surgical navigation, three-dimensional photography, and augmented reality so that surgeons can estimate and correct the position of bone fragments during surgery. Hospital Gregorio Marañón, part of the Community of Madrid's public network, is the first centre in the world to use personalised virtual planning and a triple intraoperative guidance system for the surgical correction of craniofacial deformities in young children (less than one year old) who have craniosynostosis. This system will be used in the centre with the aim of achieving a greater accuracy and repeatability of these surgeries, ensuring optimal results for patients. This new surgical navigation system has been developed by engineers from the Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering at UC3M, in collaboration with the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Neurosurgery, thanks to funding from Instituto de Salud Carlos III under grant PI18/01625.The development and validation of the navigation system have been published in Scientific Reports journal and other publications, as it is the first research to apply personalized planning and surgical navigation to the treatment of craniosynostosis.