Petru Berce

Role of Mastoid Pneumatization in Temporal Bone Fractures

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The mastoid portion of the temporal bone has multiple functional roles in the organism, including regulation of pressure in the middle ear and protection of the inner ear. We investigated whether mastoid pneumatization plays a role in the protection of vital structures in the temporal bone during direct lateral trauma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was performed on 20 human temporal bones isolated from cadavers. In the study group formed by 10 temporal bone samples, mastoid cells were removed and the resulting neocavities were filled. The mastoids were maintained intact in the control group. All samples were impacted at the same speed and kinetic energy. The resultant temporal bone fractures were evaluated by CT. RESULTS: Temporal squama fractures were 2.88 times more frequent, and mastoid fractures were 2.76 times more frequent in the study group. Facial nerve canal fractures were 6 times more frequent in the study group and involved all the segments of the facial nerve. Carotid canal fractures and jugular foramen fractures were 2.33 and 2.5 times, respectively, more frequent in the study group. CONCLUSIONS: The mastoid portion of the temporal bone plays a role in the absorption and dispersion of kinetic energy during direct lateral trauma to the temporal bone, reducing the incidence of fracture in the setting of direct trauma.

Custom Implants: Manufacturing Principles and Determination of Psychological Price

This paper presents the basic principle for achieving a custom implant from biocompatible materials with the human body using Additive Manufacturing technologies. Due the fact that is a new product which will be introduced on the market, a marketing study was needed. This study presents also the mathematical, analytical and graphical modeling of the psychological price, for a custom implant type cranioplasty / hip prosthesis / spinal implant. The assessment of psychological price for a custom cranioplasty implant, that is not the object through curative Romanian health programs, bring relevant information on the knowledge of maximum and minimum limits that the purchasers, potential consumers, are willing to accept, so the price at which the proportion of consumers potential is the greatest.

Design and Analysis of Carbon/Epoxy Composite Tubular Parts

The paper presents a design and analysis methods of carbon /epoxy composite tubular parts. Testing and analytical computations, based on classical laminated plate theory, of the proposed and manufactured material delivered the engineering constants that have been used in the finite element simulations of two important safety tests for the handlebar (bending and torsion). The experimental results obtained for lateral bending test (critical test) are in agreement with the finite element simulations.

Research on How Lens Position of the Optical System is Influencing the Mechanical Characteristics of the Metallic Parts Made by Selective Laser Melting Equipment

The Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is one of the most important Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies that have been developed in the last few years, with applications in different domains, starting with the industrial engineering and ending with biomedical industry, as well. According to the type of the application (industrial or medical), the challenges and requirements related to this modern technology are different, regarding the mechanical properties of the manufactured parts. The article presents the theoretical and experimental research that was made by the authors in order to improve the mechanical characteristics of the metallic parts manufactured by using the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology. Finite element analysis method has been successfully used in order to study the connection between the density of the material and the fracture strength of several samples that were manufactured from Stainless Steel 316L material, at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, using the MCP Realizer II SLM 250 equipment. The experimental results that have been obtained by the authors have finally proved that there is a very strong connection between the lens position of the optical system and the resulted porosity of the parts manufactured by using the SLM machine.