Bergamo 3D Rhinoplasty Software: Select, Store, and Share Surgical Maneuvers in a Three-Dimensional Nasal Model

BACKGROUND: Rhinoplasty is considered the most challenging chapter of plastic surgery due to its variability and the continuing evolution of surgical maneuvers. Worksheets became essential to unequivocally record surgical steps and to demonstrate their reciprocal effects/interactions during the follow-up period. After 1989, no other software was created to upgrade the Gunter Rhinoplasty Diagrams, the forefather and benchmark of the rhinoplasty "virtual" worksheet maker. METHODS: The authors built a new standard three-dimensional nasal framework model in STL format. All the basic components were modified to simulate the interaction among sutures, grafts, and the most common maneuvers performed during rhinoplasty. The authors created a total of 669 (99 built-in units and 285 unilateral units) three-dimensional figures which can be selected by the surgeon from among 230 options. The interface for the surgeon is Bergamo 3D Rhinoplasty Software. RESULTS: Bergamo 3D Rhinoplasty Software is made up of the database section, which gathers all the patient's personal information and documents, and the surgery section, which groups multiple selection lists in 10 surgical areas. Eighty percent of the options modify the original shape of the three-dimensional model. Several options help the surgeon to tailor the final result and to export it both in desktop software and in a real three-dimensional printed model. CONCLUSIONS: Bergamo Rhinoplasty Software revolutionizes the concept of patient and surgical data storage. Furthermore, the immediacy of three dimensions facilitates communication with patients, allows case sharing with colleagues, simplifies teaching, and encourages the surgeon's self-analysis and professional growth. Customization of the original model and of the maneuvers is the main limitation of the software, because of the currently existing technology in 2014.