1. A method of designing a customized implant that is configured to correct a defect in a tissue of interest in a patient, the method comprising: positioning a plurality of fiducials in a fixed relationship to the patient; obtaining image data representing a volume image of the fiducials and the tissue of interest; validating respective measurements between the fiducials in the fixed relationship to the patient and in the image data; correcting for image acquisition errors detected in the validating step; segmenting the tissue of interest and the fiducials from the image data; rendering points of the tissue of interest and the fiducials as a 3-dimensional surface representation; creating a 3-dimensional model of the tissue of interest and the fiducials as a function of the 3-dimensional surface representation, thereby defining a 3-dimensional model of the defect in the tissue of interest; and creating a 3-dimensional model of the implant based on the 3-dimensional model of the defect.