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About Project
An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye, or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under the eyelids.
Currently, ophthalmic replacements are manually manufactured out of glass or acrylic, which bring their own unique problems to the table – acrylic eye prosthetics are hard to individualize, and glass is easily breakable and can even cause an allergic reaction. While prostheses made of polymethyl methacrylate (Plexiglas) are a little more durable, the iris color is pale in the light, often requiring the wearer to wear sunglasses.
The hardest part of making an eye prosthetic is the iris, as it needs to resemble a person’s healthy eye as much as possible. This is hard to achieve with conventional methods of manufacturing, but 3D printing can have better results, in a reduced amount of time.
Solution
- Step 1: Design the ocular prosthesis with reference to the healthy eye after communicating with the doctor and patient, and recommend the best material with an explanation about the effect.
- Step 2: 3D printing the ocular prosthesis using Multicolor resin with the help of PolyJet technology.
- Step 3: Fitting the prosthesis into the eyelid by the doctor.
