Cranial implant treats temporal hollowing

Cranial implant company OsteoSymbionics has released its second product: a soft implant to correct temporal hollowing.

Temporal hollowing refers to a depression on the side of a patient’s head near the temple that’s caused by an atrophying of the temporal muscle. Temporal hollowing can result from trauma or damage caused during surgery.

“This hollowing results in a significant cosmetic deformity that affects the patient physically and psychologically,” according to a 2005 study in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

OsteoSymbionics’ ST Temporalis soft implant is designed to address the problem and can be trimmed by neurosurgeons to customize the device’s fit.

“This is a simple, little silicone device that slides in and fills that void,” said Cindy Brogan, the Cleveland-based company’s CEO.

The company’s first product is a hard implant called the ClearShield that’s designed to replace a portion of patient’s skull.

“As a company, we’re committed to products used during neurosurgical closure,” Brogan said. “Over the course of the next two years, you’ll see a number of new products coming out that deal with closure issues.”