Computer-aided craniofacial surgery

Computer-aided craniofacial surgery is a broad term, which has been applied to a variety of frequently overlapping activities. These related disciplines include visualization and mensuration of craniofacial anatomy, preoperative planning of surgical interventions, intraoperative image-based guidance of surgical therapy, and postoperative evaluation of therapy and growth. The computer has become an indispensable tool for the craniofacial surgeon. It allows the practitioner to more effectively understand the patient’s clinical problem, to share this understanding with both patient and colleague, to plan and execute an operation, and to obtain feedback regarding the outcome. The purpose of this chapter is to survey the current use of the computer-aided surgery (CAS) technology in all of these aspects of craniofacial surgery.