Creating a Model of a Specific COMS Plaque

Introduction

In this tutorial we will create a model of a specific COMS 10 mm plaque. Please note that generic models of all of the COMS, ROPES, and BEBIG plaques are selectable from menus in Plaque Simulator. End users of these commercially available plaques may never need to create specific plaque models. The COMS 10 mm plaque was selected for this introductory tutorial because it is a small, simple plaque with only 5 seed slots and therefore a logical choice for illustrating the process and editing tools.


Prepare pictures of the plaque face and carrier

With a flatbed scanner:

Begin by using a flatbed scanner (e.g. Epson Perfection Photo series with transparency option) to scan the face of your plaque shell at 1200dpi with a calibrating ruler nearby. Next, scan your Silastic carrier at 1200 dpi in backlit transparency mode. If you have several 10 mm carriers, you may wish to scan each of them to look for variability. Eye Physics uses VueScan from Hamrick Software to capture our images.

Orient the plaque as symmetrically as possible with the suture eyelets towards the top of the picture. Orient the carrier so that the center seed is vertical. Include a translucent ruler with 1 mm increments along the top edge of the picture. Good file formats to use are either ".png" or ".jpg". For best cosmetic results, use the Adobe Photoshop program to crop the scans and make the background surrounding the plaque and carrier transparent as illustrated on the right. Save the files in .png format to preserve transparency. Sample .png files for many COMS plaques are included in the Plaque Simulator download.

COMS10mmShell1200dpi

The COMS 10 mm shell scanned in 24-bit color flatbed mode at 1200 dpi.

COMS10mmCarrier1200dpi

The COMS 10 mm carrier scanned in 8-bit monochrome transparency mode at 1200 dpi.


Find a similar plaque model as a starting point

Bring the Plaque window to the front by clicking in the window or by selecting it in the Window menu. Click the Plaque #1 button. From the Plaque menu, select a built-in model similar to the plaque you want to model.

From the Plaque menu:

PlaqueCOMS

Select Silastic Carrier

COMSSilastic

Select COMS 10 mm

COMSSilasticMenu10mm

Plaque Simulator includes predefined models of these COMS plaques with Silastic silicone seed carriers.

The new plaque in the Plaque window:

PlaqueWndwWithCOMS10mm

Open the Shell Editor window

From the Plaque window, go to the Plaque menu and select Shell Editor... to open the Shell Editor window.

PlaqueShellEditor

The Shell Editor window:

ShellEditor

Open the shell picture

In the Picture controls group of the Shell Editor window:

ShellEditorPictureControls
  • Click the Shell radio button.
  • Enable the Show checkbox.
  • Click the Open button.

Navigate to find the picture of the shell face and open it.

OpenCOMS10mmShellPicture

Center the shell picture

In the Picture controls group of the Shell Editor window:

  • Magnify shell picture if necessary so that 1 mm on the ruler matches 1 mm in the Shell Editor workspace. Rescaling the picture may not be required if your scanner calibration is accurate. The purpose of including a fragment of a real ruler in the scanned image is to confirm the calibration of the scanner and provide a way to rescale should it become necessary.
  • Translate shell picture to center
  • Rotate shell picture around center if necessary
ShellPictureOpened

Above: shell picture as initially loaded


Below: after translating the shell picture

ShellPictureTranslated

Open the carrier picture

In the Picture controls group of the Shell Editor window:

CarrierPictureControls
  • Click the Carrier radio button.
  • Enable the Show checkbox.
  • Click the Open button.

Navigate to find the picture of the carrier and open it.

OpenCOMS10mmCarrierPicture

Center the carrier picture

In the Picture controls group of the Shell Editor window:

  • Magnify the carrier picture to match the shell magnification. The purpose of the ruler in the scanned image of the shell was to confirm the calibration of your scanner and provide a way to rescale should it become necessary. If you use the same scanner for both the shell and carrier pictures you will not need a ruler in the scan of the carrier. Just use the same rescaling for the carrier as for the shell.
  • Translate carrier picture to center
  • Rotate carrier picture around center if necessary
  • Set the masking Inset to 0.6 mm. The nominal thickness of the lip of a COMS plaque is 0.5 mm. We are setting the inset mask to be 0.1 mm greater than the lip thickness to allow the picture of the carrier to rotate inside the shell just as the real carrier rotates within the real shell.
  • Set the opacity of the carrier to 0.50. The carrier will now appear translucently within the lip of the shell.
  • After translating the carrier picture

    CarrierPictureTranslated

    Set shell and carrier parameters

    In the Shell Editor window:

    • Click the Params... button to open the Shell & Carrier Parameters dialog sheet.
    • Since we began with a 'built-in' model of this plaque, we don't need to change any of these settings or properties, but now you know where to access the carrier property settings such as materials, thickness, color, ability to rotate and so on.
    • Illustrated are the shell and carrier parameter settings for this COMS plaque.
    ShellAndCarrierParametersCOMS

    Adjust the plaque perimeter

    In the Shell Editor window:

    • Since we began with a 'built-in' model of this plaque, you don't need to change the plaque perimeter or properties, but because this is a tutorial, you should know how to.
    • To roughly edit the shape of the plaque perimeter, click and drag the perimeter defining nodes on the diagram.
    • To fine tune the properties at the plaque lip, select one of the perimeter defining nodes by clicking on it in the diagram or list.
    • Command-click to select multiple nodes. In this example nodes 0,2 and 4 have been selected. Node 0 should always be at 12 o'clock.
    PerimeterNodeSelection
    • In the Perimeter controls group, click the Edit button to open the Lip Editor window. You can also access the lip editor by double-clicking a hilighted list item or diagram node handle.
    LipEditor

    Adjust the plaque eyelets

    In the Eyelet Editor window:

    • Since we began with a 'built-in' model of this plaque, you don't need to change the eyelet properties, but because this is a tutorial, you should know how to.
    • Suture eyelets are attached to the perimeter defining nodes in the Lip Editor window.
    • Eyelet properties are set in the Eyelet Editor window which can be opened from the Eyelets button in the Shell Editor window or from the Plaque menu.
    EyeletEditor
    EyeletSetup

    To observe how parameters in the Eyelet Editor window affect the 3D model, set the Patient Setup window to plaque design mode and enable Highlight and Track in setup in the Eyelet Editor window.


    Add or delete source placeholders

    In the Group Pattern Editor window:

    • Since we began with a 'built-in' model of this plaque, you don't need to change the number of source placeholders (aka slots), but because this is a tutorial, you should know how to.
    • Source slot placeholder groups are added to (or deleted from) the plaque in the Group Pattern Editor window.
    • To add, edit or delete source slots individually, use the Slot Editor window which can be accessed from the Plaque menu or Window menu.
    • To view groups and slot indices, in the Plaque window enable Labels. From the Labels contextual menu, or in the Options control group of the Group Pattern Editor or Slot Editor enable display of slot groups and #s. A source or placeholder label of S2,G0 indicates that that location is slot index #2 and it is a member of group pattern #0.
    GroupEditor
    PlaqueGroups

    Adjust sources to picture

    In the Plaque window:

    • Set the cursor mode to load slot.
    • PlaqueLoadControl
    • Install seeds in the slot placeholders by first selecting a Source model from the inventory database and then clicking on empty placeholders.
    • In this example the central seed is still empty and marked with a thin brown placeholder line.
    • Placeholder line and other plaque appearance settings are customizable from the Plaque Appearance window.
    • Set the cursor mode to drag and rotate.
    • PlaqueDragControl
    • Drag the seed centers over the wells in the silicone seed carrier.
    • Rotate the seeds (by dragging the corners) to align with the slots.
    • Fine tune the coordinates and angles in the the Slot Editor window.
    SlotEditorPlaque
    PlaqueAppearance

    The plaque appearance window

    From the Plaque menu:

    In the Slot Editor window:

    • In the Slot # control group at the top of the window select a slot (e.g. #2) from the popup menu.
    • In the Location and orientation control group, fine tune each seed's properties to overlay the wells in the silicone seed carrier.
    SlotEditor
    SlotEditorSetup

    To observe how parameters in the Slot Editor window affect the 3D model, set the Patient Setup window to plaque design mode and enable Track in setup in the Slot Editor window.


    Saving the plaque file

    In the Plaque window:

    • Unload any seeds from the plaque by clicking the Unload button.
    SavePlaqueEmpty

    In the Setup and/or Retina window:

    • Drag and rotate the empty plaque to whatever default location and orientation you would like the plaque to assume when it is reloaded.
    SavePlaqueSetup
    SavePlaqueRetina

    From the File menu:

    SavePlaqueAs

    Select Save as....

    SavePlaque

    Rename the new plaque (e.g. COMS10tutorial, the .iplq6 extension will automatically be added for you) and save it in the Plaques folder in the Plaque Simulator Data master data folder. Update the Plaque Files menu to access the new plaque.