Application of Personalized 3D-Printed Silicone Implants in Rhinoplasty: An Animal Experimental Study

Hou M, Li H, Guo Y, Song J, Yi C.

PubMed 42329445 Publisher (DOI)Free full text (PMC)

What this paper says

In rabbits and beagle dogs, 3D-printed silicone nasal implants designed from CT scans fitted the bone closely, and their rough porous surface encouraged tissue ingrowth that reduced shifting and translucency while eliminating carving time.

Overview

Standard silicone implants shift, tilt, show through the skin and must be hand-carved during surgery. The Chinese authors measured animal nasal dorsums, used 3D CT to capture bone shape, and printed custom silicone implants, comparing them against conventional implants in a rabbit model, with further tests in beagles. This is an animal study with no level of evidence assigned.

Sections of note

Custom implants showed a tight fit to the nasal bone.
Rough, porous surface design promoted tissue ingrowth, reducing displacement.
The porous structure reduced light refraction and translucency.
No intraoperative carving was needed, shortening operative time.

What it means for a patient

Custom-printed implants may address the main practical problems of stock silicone (movement and visibility), but this has only been shown in animals here.
Human studies of patient-specific implants exist separately; this paper contributes the surface-design idea.
Silicone remains a foreign body with long-term infection and extrusion risks regardless of fit.

Why this paper matters

It tests implant surface texture and porosity, not only shape, as a way to stabilise silicone. Limits: animal model, no long-term or human data.

Terms

Silicone implant: a solid synthetic block used to raise the bridge.
Translucency: an implant showing through thin skin as a lighter or shiny area.
Tissue ingrowth: the body's tissue growing into pores of an implant, anchoring it.
3D CT: a three-dimensional X-ray scan used to model bone shape.

Summary written by rhinoplasty.cc from the abstract, 2026-09-08; not medical advice. The authors' own abstract follows.

Abstract

Background: Silicone implants are widely used in rhinoplasty but often face issues such as displacement, tilting, sliding, and translucency. Additionally, their fixed sizes fail to meet individualized needs, and intraoperative carving increases surgical difficulty and time. 3D printing technology offers the potential for precise and personalized silicone nasal implants to address these challenges.

Objective: To investigate whether 3D-printed silicone nasal implants can reduce implant displacement, sliding, tilting, and translucency, as well as shorten surgical time compared to traditional silicone implants.

Methods: The dimensions of the implant were determined by measuring the nasal dorsum of experimental animals. 3D CT scanning was used to obtain nasal bone data, based on which personalized silicone implants were designed and fabricated to fit the bone surface. A rabbit nasal implantation model was used to compare outcomes between 3D-printed implants (3D group) and traditional silicone implants (control group). Additional implantation experiments were conducted on beagle dogs.

Results: The 3D-printed silicone nasal implants showed a tight fit with the nasal bone. Their rough surface and porous design promoted tissue ingrowth, reducing implant displacement. The porous structure also minimized light refraction and translucency. The implantation surgery required no carving, thus reducing operative time.

Conclusion: 3D-printed silicone implants effectively address displacement and translucency issues associated with traditional implants, enable personalized design to meet individual patient needs, reduce surgery time, and improve surgical efficiency.

No Level Assigned: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each submission to which Evidence-Based Medicine rankings are applicable. This excludes Review Articles, Book Reviews, and manuscripts that concern Basic Science, Animal Studies, Cadaver Studies, and Experimental Studies. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Abstract as indexed by PubMed; the article is open access (PubMed Central).