What is a Custom Burn Mask?

A custom burn mask is a clear plastic orthotic designed from a model of the patient’s face and fits directly against the skin.  The total contact design is used to apply direct pressure over the wound site to help prevent significant build up of collagen fibres and realign them in more normal formations. 

How is a Burn Mask Made?

Historically the most effective method of creating a custom burn mask entailed applying an alginate or plaster-moulding compound directly to the face. This procedure, while very effective, proved to be time consuming, painful for the patient and laden with potential complications. If a second mask is required due to patient changes the casting process had to be repeated.

Thanks to recent advances in medical technology and materials development, there is now a better option for treating patients with severe facial burns. MediCARVE Mask, a proprietary technology unique to G-code Technology Ltd, uses a portable, three-dimensional laser scanning device, which eliminates the need for plaster or alginate moulds and the associated discomfort and anxiety.  It offers multiple benefits to the patient:

• MediCARVE Mask creates a digital record of the patient’s facial surface that is accurate to within one millimeter.
• MediCARVE Mask scans take only minutes to complete and can be done practically anywhere, at no additional cost.
• MediCARVE Mask is painless; the class II laser is non-invasive and does not contact the patient’s skin. 
• MediCARVE Mask makes it easy to adjust the mask to a patient’s changing condition.  Follow-up scans monitor the healing process and can be used to create a new mask, if indicated.
• MediCARVE Mask increases the incidence of positive treatment outcomes by dramatically reducing discomfort associated with traditional casting methods.

Once the facial scan and digital model have been completed, the burn mask is created.  Traditionally, masks have been fabricated using clear plastic, which protects the wound site while still allowing visual inspection by a physician.  Although plastic masks have proven to be quite effective in patient therapy, there is a new scar-management material called Silon-STS® (silicone thermoplastic splinting) that minimizes and reduces scars and aids in the prevention of hypertrophic scars and keloids from traumatic injuries or surgical procedures.  Developed and produced by Bio Med Sciences, Silon-STS was designed specifically for patients with facial burn scars.  This unique, patented material unites pressure and silicone therapy into one step.  The Silon-IPN technology combines the strength and resilience of “Teflon” with the elastic and therapeutic properties of silicone.

Each of these technologies offers improvements over traditional methods of creating custom burn masks. 

• Digital scanning is faster, easier, and more comfortable to the patient.
• Silon-STS’s unique material properties aid in scar management and maturation.

Together they have a significant impact on the patient’s experience and rehabilitation.

The Process

Refining the process to where it is now usable right at the patient's bedside  is the result of G-code Technology Ltd driven ideas.

So, the first step is to take the 3D Hand Scanner and scan the burn victim. Once the patient has been scanned, the file is sent into the 3D CAD software that allows the shape to be edited, modified, and refined.

It can take from 15 minutes up to an hour to alter the 3D STL file.

After the modifications to the 3D tool are made on the computer and the STL file is complete, the file is now given toolpaths that remove waste and create a clean finished part.

Next up is the material. We work with Tooling Board, the material breaks off into chips, providing a tool ready for vacuum-forming, which also makes it very easy to clean the mill after machining.

Once the tool is milled in 3D, it is cut from the stock and placed directly into a vacuum-forming machine. G-code Technology Ltd uses Formech machines, which, have the best range of machines, including a deep draw machine for oncology isolation masks for radiotherapy treatments. The vacuum-forming process first heats the propriety "Silon" sheet in less than 60 seconds and then forms the gel mask in less than 5 seconds. 

With the scanning of the patient, to the machining of the model and the Vacuum-forming, a patient will have a finished mask in less than 24 hours.