Methods of selecting surgical implants and related devices

A system for selecting an optimal bone plate among a plurality of bone plates to be fixed to an anatomical surface of a patient, the system comprising:

• a malleable template configured to be manually shaped by a user to represent a three dimensional curve corresponding to an anatomical surface of a selected patient, the malleable template longitudinally breakable to adjust its length;
• an imaging cradle having a first surface and a second surface laterally positioned from the first surface, the first and second surfaces defining a V-shaped resting area for the shaped template;
• an optical camera for taking a first image of the resting template at a first angle associated with the first surface and a second image of the resting template at a second angle associated with the second surface;
• a computer configured to:
• generate a three dimensional contour of the shaped template based on the first and second images,
• compare the generated three dimensional contour against stored three dimensional contours of a plurality of bone plates for optimal fit, and
• select one of the plurality of bone plates based on the comparison.