Artificial skullcap manufacturing method, involves making a mold direct from a skullcap or from the skullcap data, then molding a suitable plastic in the mold

摘要

Molding tool is manufactured in a cured material using a natural skullcap as a model, sterilized and stored until use in sterile packaging. An artificial skull cap is then molded by introducing a molding compound into the concave half, pressing the convex part onto the concave part and curing the compound. The hardened skullcap is then removed from the mold, perforated and fasteners attached. Alternative methods of skullcap manufacture involve either: a) (i) data measurement by CCT (cranial computer tomography) on a skullcap removed from a patient; (ii) conversion of the data into stereolithographic data for storage in a computer; (iii) use of the stored data to operated a numerically controlled milling machine to produce a replica skullcap from a material block; (iv) use of the replica as a replacement skullcap or as a master model for producing a two part tool(2,10) for production of the artificial skullcap or b) obtaining stereolithographic data as in method a) and converting this data into a form suitable for producing a two part mold of the skullcap.