Patent ID: 8323308

Claim:
A dynamic nasal molding device adapted for pre-surgical molding of cleft lip deformities in a patient, said device comprising: a frame assembly; a pair of rotation assemblies connected to said frame assembly, said pair of rotation assemblies defining a pair of separate, non-overlapping rotation axes, said rotation axes being parallel to each other; a pair of intra-nasal internal shaping members and a pair of extra-nasal external shaping members, one of said internal shaping members and one of said external shaping members connected to one of said rotation assemblies, and the other of said internal shaping members and the other of said external shaping members connected to the other of said rotation assemblies, whereby said internal shaping members and said external shaping members pivot along arced pathways; means for adjusting the frame assembly to adjust the separation distance between said rotation assemblies, said rotation axes of said rotation assemblies remaining parallel to each other at any separation distance to which said frame assembly is adjusted; means for locking said internal shaping members and said external shaping members at points along said arced pathway; wherein said internal shaping members are adapted to be positioned in the nostrils of the patient having a cleft lip deformity and said external shaping members are adapted to be positioned along the alar creases of the patient, such that the tissue of the patient is compressed between the internal shaping members and the external shaping members so as to retain the device on the patient.