(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – By the time you read this story, two more people will undergo surgery for chronic sinus infections. It’s a condition that affects nearly 12 million people and while surgery for chronic sinusitis is fairly common, it can also be extremely complex.
“Because the sinuses are surrounded by the brain and the eyes, you have be be very precise, within millimeters,” said Dr. Alex Farag, an otolaryngologist who specializes in rhinology and skull base surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Though complications from sinus surgery are rare, they can be severe. Patients can lose their senses of smell and taste. Some may suffer from empty nose syndrome, a mysterious condition that leaves patients struggling to breathe, even though scans show that nasal passages are wide open, or “empty.”
To reduce the risk of complications, researchers at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center are using 3-D technology to design customized models that can map out patient surgeries. “Before surgery we can remove certain areas of tissue on a computer model, then back-compute it to see how it impacts nasal airflow,” said Kai Zhao, PhD, who’s using computational fluid dynamics to develop novel software. “Like playing a videogame, we can try multiple variations until we get the airflow we want.” It could lead to much more precise procedures and more prepared surgeons.
