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Chapter 7182Table 1: Sheep number and weight (kg) at pre-op, 1 week post-op, 1-3-6-9-10 months post-op.Sheep # Pre-op 1w post-op 3m post-op 6m post-op 9m post-op 10m post-op3520 86.6 78.8 73.5 76.6 71.4 74.28087 61.4 53.8 52.1 53.9 59.8 59.62177 79.4 71.2 67.5 72.3 78.2 79.95158 72.3 63.3 66.8 70.9 77.6 80.12549 63.3 55.8 55.9 61.3 63.2 63.94249 75.8 65.5 61.5 62.5 64 63.60032 64.2 55.9 51.9 58.7 59.1 60.47998 83.9 76.2 68.7 70.8 75.8 77.24246 74.6 66.3 66.2 71.8 77.3 76.11724 83.9 76.3 75.8 84.3 90 91.94248 69.2 62.4 65.1 68.6 72.4 72.98787 52.3 50 45.6 47.3 48.6 47.74473 86 77.2 75.2 78.4 81.7 83.20075 74.3 68.3 78 80.2 86.9 87.6ImplantTo design the implants, a computerized tomography (CT) scan was made of each sheep 6 weeks before the surgery date. The CT data was provided in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)-format to CADskills BV engineers (Ghent, Belgium). They reconstructed the images to a standard template library (STL)-file, performed the resections virtually, and then designed the implants using Geomagic Freeform Plus (3D Systems, Rock Hill, SC, USA). All implants were designed for the left TMJ, and the implant design, number of screws, and screw diameters were as similar to the human design as possible. The lengths and positions of the screws were predetermined during implant design and were based on the amounts of bone and the adjacent anatomical structures (e.g. the inferior alveolar nerve). Subsequently, both the skull and the implant associated with the first sheep were 3D-printed using a fused deposit model 3D-printer (Makerbot, MakerBot Industries, Brooklyn, NY, USA) and a stereolithographic resin 3D-printer (Formlabs II, Formlabs, Sommerville, MA, USA), respectively (Fig 1). The resulting prints were used to make further implant design improvements.Nikolas de Meurechy NW.indd 182 05-06-2024 10:14