Back in 1997, Evansville mechanic Shirley Anderson developed tongue cancer. The radiation treatment worked — at least for a time — as he thought was cancer free after 15 years had passed.

But the cancer returned in 2012 and this time, the severe side effects of radiation therapy destroyed Anderson’s mandible. After several unsuccessful attempts to rebuild Anderson’s jaw, Dr. Travis Bellicchi and several colleagues at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis entered the picture.

Through the use of digital imaging, digital design and 3-D printing, Bellicchi and an interdisciplinary team from the IU School of Dentistry, IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing, IUPUI School of Engineering and Technology and the Herron School of Art and Design are developing prostheses for Anderson that over time, will look and fit better.

“Shirley really believes in helping us as an institution. He totally gets the work we are trying to do on the discovery side of this as well as the patient-care side,” Bellicchi said. “He is a problem-solver and a funny guy. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend a year with as I come up with different prosthesis solutions and explore the digital protocol.”

Read more about the ongoing work by Bellicchi and his team here: