A Novel Innovation for Surgical Flap Markings using Projected Stencils

Summary Despite the vast amount of technological advancements seen in the operating room, surgical markings are still drawn as "best estimates" the same way Susruta drew them in the sixth century B.C. Many of the flaps used in plastic surgery have precise geometries that are hard to replicate by hand. In this article, the authors describe a novel approach in making surgical markings more accurate by using a pico-projector to project a prefabricate flap, designed on Google Sketchup, as a stencil. Projected and hand drawn Rhomboid and Bilobed flaps were tested on cadavers with both quantitative and qualitative outcomes favoring the projected flaps. This unique concept can not only be used in the operating room but also serve as an as educational tool for training plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Financial Disclosure Statement: Dr. Sayadi, Dr. Chopan, Dr. Banyard, Dr. Maguire, Mr. Ehret, Dr. Widgerow and Dr. Evans have nothing to disclose. No funding was received for this article. Declaration of Helsinki: All the principles outlined in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000, have been followed in all the experiments involving human subjects during the current study Corresponding Author: Dr. Alan D. Widgerow – MBBCh(MD); MMed(MHS); FCS (Plast); FACS, Professor Plastic Surgery, Director Center for Tissue Engineering, Dept. of Plastic Surgery, University of California, Irvine (Suite 108a Building 55, 101 S. City Dr, Orange CA, 92868- Tel 714.456.3482 awidgero@uci.edu) ©2018American Society of Plastic Surgeons

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