We provide facial and body prostheses that are needed due to trauma, birth defects (congenital malformations) or surgery (for example, tumour removal). Prostheses are devices designed to replace a missing part of the body, or to make a part of the body work better.
We are a regional centre covering south east London, Kent and surrounding areas.
We provide services for:
- ear nose and throat (ENT) – nasal splints, keloid splints, sleep apnoea appliances
- plastics – breast and nipple prostheses, custom made silicone implants
- ophthalmology – ocular and orbital prostheses
- orthodontics – orthognathic model surgery planning
- respiratory medicine – customised trachea tubes.
We are leaders in implant supported facial prostheses and the use of three dimensional (3D) imaging for pre-operative surgery.
Thanks to funding, the unit has a handheld 3D camera which can capture images of the face. These can be viewed three dimensionally or used to make 3D models.
Research
We're part of a five year multi-centre study on mapping facial change using a 3D image capture system (stereophotogrammetry) for head and neck cancer patients.