Lifelike Magnetic Orbital Prosthesis Restores Hope and Happiness

We’ll call her Lisa, and her story with Medical Art Prosthetics goes way back to 2008. A devastating surgery to treat an aggressive cancer required the removal of her left eye and surrounding tissues. The procedure is called orbital exenteration. Steven Covici, MD an oculoplastic surgeon called on our anaplastology practice to collaborate in the prosthetic restoration process.

Magnetic orbital prosthesis

Osseointegration and Tiny Magnets to the Rescue

Osseointegration simply means tiny implant screws surgically placed in the bone become solidly and permanently anchored. Integration is at the cellular level wear the bone cells called osteocytes actually grow right into the titanium oxide surface of the implant screws. Its now regularly used in both maxillofacial surgery to support dentures and in craniofacial surgery to support orbital prosthesis like Lisa’s as well as prosthetic noses and prosthetic ears!

Lisa’s Case was a Tight Fit

Lisa’s exenteration cavity was small and shallow which is a good thing in general terms. But for the anaplastologist it became a challenge. Why? It’s because we do not have much room to position the artificial eye in the correct position. We have to carefully shave down the plastic ocular shell even more to accomodate the magnets that attach the prosthesis. In the photo you can see the back of the 2 greyish colored magnets embedded in the silicone orbital prosthesis. See more osseointegrated orbital prostheses and how they attached by clicking here.

2 magnets embedded in the orbital prosthesis

Backside of the orbital prosthesis with 2 magnets

3 Prosthetic Eyes Lasting 18 Years

Lisa has returned only a few times over the 18 years for occasional repairs. She takes wonderful care of her prostheses. It is amazing how well she has maintained even the delicate artificial eyelashes implanted in the silicone orbital prosthesis. Lisa and her mom recently sent one of her prostheses in to refine the acrylic portion of the prosthesis. We know it was not a feature that would detract from the overall effectiveness of our prosthetic result. However, we know its important to Lisa so we were happy to complete the enhancement and ship her prosthesis without delay.

3 orbital prostheses

Advancing Oculofacial Restoration as a Specialty

Medical Art Prosthetics’ clinical anaplastologists have been actively engaged to elevate the quality of all facial prosthetics for 40 years. We create very accurate aesthetic prosthetics like orbital prostheses on a daily basis. We know this level of specialization is the best way to advance the quality of orbital and oculofacial prosthetics wherever they are provided or by whom. A group that has advocated for advancing facial and somatic prosthetics is the International Anaplastology Association (IAA). Link to the IAA website here.

Lisa’s case illustrates how complex orbital prosthetics and their attachment to osseointegrated implants are. Here are the basic steps that show what goes into the creation of a beatiful prosthetic device and the professional delivery of the service:

anaplastologist begins treatment planning with the patient and designing surgical template
implant fixture companies like Cochlear Vistafix and Southern Implant provide guidance in product selection
surgical team trains on implant system and gets familiar with cassette of componentry
surgeon places implant fixtures which are allowed to integrate and heal
anaplastologist selects, orders, and places the magnets for the best attachment
anaplastologist uses artistic, clinical, and interpersonal skills to provide a prosthesis that restores the body and soul

Download our information sheet on orbital and eye prosthetics and other facial prosthetics by clicking here.

For more information and a list of our osseointegration implant surgeon partners click here.