Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Comparative and Clinical Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1461657
This article is part of the Research Topic Animal Biomechanics: Application of Biomedical Engineering to Veterinary Sciences for Animal Healthcare, Volume II View all articles

Patient-Specific 3D-Printed Nasopharyngeal Stents in Dogs: A Cadaveric Pilot Study

Provisionally accepted
Craig Sutter Craig Sutter 1*Brian Hardy Brian Hardy 2Steven Lucero Steven Lucero 3Lynelle Johnson Lynelle Johnson 4William Culp William Culp 4
  • 1 Pacific Northwest Pet ER and Specialty Center, Vancouver, United States
  • 2 Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Corvallis, United States
  • 3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States
  • 4 William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Currently available treatment options for nasopharyngeal stenosis and imperforate nasopharynx in dogs and cats are fraught with complications and failures. Objective: To develop patient-specific nasopharyngeal stents using 3D-printed molds and to assess placement and fit of stents within the nasopharynx. Animals: Six canine cadavers Methods: Patient-specific nasopharyngeal silicone stents were generated using 3D-printed molds based on CT scans. A placement protocol was developed. Post-placement, goodness of fit within the nasopharynx was evaluated and compared to currently used methods. Mechanical properties of silicone stents were compared to catheter-based and nitinol stents. Results: Development and placement of stents was successful in all six cadavers. Silicone stents offered stiffness (force required for compression, N) and post-load deformation comparable to nitinol stents (1.8-6.2 vs. 1.2-3.3 N and 0.02-0.08 vs. 0.01-0.14 mm, respectively). Patientspecific stents offered superior goodness of fit in the nasopharynx (81-90%) compared to bilateral red rubber catheters (16.2-33.8%) Conclusions: Development and placement of patient-specific stents using 3D printed molds was successful in all six cadavers. The novel stents exhibited similar mechanical properties and superior goodness of fit compared to commercially available stents, potentially offering a better Formatted: Right: 0.25" alternative to commercially available stents. Further investigation is needed in animals with nasopharyngeal stenosis to determine efficacy and to assess utility in live patients.

    Keywords: 3D-printed stents, Nasopharynx, nasopharyngeal stenosis, mechanical testing, imperforate nasopharynx Right: 0.25"

    Received: 08 Jul 2024; Accepted: 06 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sutter, Hardy, Lucero, Johnson and Culp. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Craig Sutter, Pacific Northwest Pet ER and Specialty Center, Vancouver, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.