Dental Implants ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; trends ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo develop a dental CAD/CAM system with the autonomic intellectual property.

METHOD28 standard teeth crowns were scanned using a newly 3-D laser scanner. As a development platform the Matlab 5.3 were used to process the acquired data, also be used to define the characterized areas on the surfaces of the crowns and to change the crowns form. The software of Surfacer 10.5 to develop a new CAD software for fixed prosthetics, and the 3.5 axis numerical controlled machine to manufacture the prosthetics were used.

RESULTIt is the first time, the 3D graphic data bank of Chinese teeth crowns with a standard form was established. A software of the occlusal adjustment and the form modification were developed. It is also the first time, the authors realized the whole process to use the CAD-CAM for the manufacture of a crown.

CONCLUSIONThe successful result shows, that we have already mastered well the base theory, the mathematics method, the technology of a CAD-CAM system. It provides the basics for the future development.

Computer-Aided Design ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; methods ; trends ; Dental Restoration, Permanent ; methods ; Dentistry, Operative ; methods ; Humans ; Research ; trends ; Research Design

Since their popularization, genitourinary prosthetics have remained a gold-standard therapy for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and stress urinary incontinence and in cases of testicular loss or dysfunction. They have also represented an area of significant innovation, which has contributed to excellent long-term outcomes. Given this history, the objective of the current review was to provide a 5-10-year outlook on anticipated trends and developments in the field of genitourinary prosthetics. To accomplish this objective, a PubMed and patent search was performed of topics relating to penile and testicular prostheses and urinary sphincters. In regard to penile prostheses, findings demonstrated several new concepts including temperature-sensitive alloys, automated pumps, devices designed specifically for neophalluses, and improved malleable designs. With artificial urinary sphincters, new concepts include the ability to add or remove fluid from an existing system, two-piece systems, and new mechanisms to occlude the urethra. For testicular prosthetics, future implementations may not only better replicate the feel of a biological testicle but also add endocrinological functions. Beyond device innovation, the future of prosthetics is also one of expanding geographic boundaries, which necessitates variable cost modeling and regulatory considerations. Surgical trends are also changing, with a greater emphasis on nonnarcotic, postoperative pain control, outpatient surgeries, and adjunctive techniques to lengthen the penis and address concomitant stress incontinence, among others. Concomitant with device and surgical changes, future considerations also include a greater need for education and training, particularly given the rapid expansion of sexual medicine into developing nations.
Erectile Dysfunction/surgery* ; Humans ; Male ; Penile Implantation ; Penile Prosthesis/trends* ; Prostheses and Implants/trends* ; Prosthesis Design/trends* ; Prosthesis Implantation/trends* ; Testicular Diseases/surgery* ; Urinary Incontinence, Stress/surgery* ; Urinary Sphincter, Artificial/trends* ; Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male/trends*

Research on how to totally or partially restore the vision has attracted more attention in the fields of neural engineering and tissue engineering. Neural interface and visual prosthesis offer alternative ways for partially repairing the visual impairment. The most widely used visual prosthetics are based on retinal stimulation. This article is a state-of-art review of the principles, technical details and the limitations of retinal prosthesis.
Blindness ; therapy ; Electric Stimulation ; Electrodes, Implanted ; Humans ; Prosthesis Design ; methods ; trends ; Retina ; physiology ; Visual Perception ; physiology

Dental Alloys ; Dental Implants ; Dental Materials ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; trends ; Humans ; Zirconium

The application of artificial retina was introduced. The principal characteristics of artificial retina material were reviewed in particular. Moreover, the recent research development and application prospect were discussed.
Animals ; Bioartificial Organs ; trends ; Humans ; Prosthesis Design ; Retina ; Tissue Engineering ; methods

The database with standard 3D tooth crowns has laid the groundwork for dental CAD/CAM system. In this paper, we design the standard tooth crowns in 3DS MAX 9.0 and create a database with these models successfully. Firstly, some key lines are collected from standard tooth pictures. Then we use 3DS MAX 9.0 to design the digital tooth model based on these lines. During the design process, it is important to refer to the standard plaster tooth model. After some tests, the standard tooth models designed with this method are accurate and adaptable; furthermore, it is very easy to perform some operations on the models such as deforming and translating. This method provides a new idea to build the database with standard 3D tooth crowns and a basis for dental CAD/CAM system.
Computer-Aided Design ; Databases, Factual ; Dental Models ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; methods ; trends ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Tooth Crown ; anatomy & histology

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are two predominant causes of visual deterioration. Retinal prosthesis embeds a micro-electric chip or a micro-photoelectric diode array in the sub-retina or epi-retina, which is used to stimulate the remainder of inner retina, so as to restore some degree of sight. Retinal prosthesis has attracted most attention in the field of artificial visual function recovery, and along with deep-going research, many issues need to be resolved. In this paper, the theory of retinal prosthesis and the status quo of research in many countries are introduced, the key issues which influence the application of the retinal prosthesis are discussed in detail, and some notions and advices are presented.
Electric Stimulation Therapy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Macular Degeneration ; surgery ; Photic Stimulation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Prosthesis Design ; Retinitis Pigmentosa ; surgery ; Visual Prosthesis ; standards ; trends

This paper reviews the current developing situation of neuroprostheses which are based on the functional electrical stimulation (FES) technique and are used to provide limb movements. It also discusses the major challenges of neuroprostheses, which will be faced in the future development and in the clinical applications for the rehabilitation of spinal cord injury and stroke.
Electric Stimulation Therapy ; methods ; trends ; Extremities ; physiology ; Humans ; Movement ; physiology ; Prostheses and Implants ; Prosthesis Design ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Stroke ; physiopathology ; therapy

Cortical visual prosthesis, optic nerve visual prosthesis and vision substitution devices are alternative ways for repairing the visual impairment in case of optic nerve injury, retina lose or blindness without fully developed central visual system. This article is a state-of-art review of the principles, technical details and the limitations of different types of prostheses beyond the retinal prosthesis.
Animals ; Artificial Intelligence ; Electric Stimulation Therapy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Optic Nerve ; physiopathology ; Prosthesis Design ; Prosthesis Implantation ; methods ; trends ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; physiology ; Vision Disorders ; rehabilitation ; Visual Cortex ; physiopathology ; Visual Pathways ; physiopathology