Doctors in a Beijing hospital were able to perform spine surgery on a young boy using a fitted implant made using 3D printing, China Central Television reported.
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The boy, Minghao, was admitted into the hospital after he injured his neck playing soccer. After tests, the boy was found to actually have a malignant tumor in his second vertebra.
Normally, the surgery to remove a tumor like this would require the patient to lie with his head kept still for three months while the surgery healed. Titanium tubes placed where the vertebra used to lie inhibits movement in the patient's neck. With the use of 3D printing, however, doctors at Peking University Third Hospital were able to create an implant that mimicked the shape of the lost vertebra, letting the doctors secure the implant without the typical use of screws or adhesive and removing the need for the hindering titanium tubes. The unique shape of the implant also makes it less likely to become dislodged than traditional solutions.
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According to Peking University, the Third Hospital has been conducting clinical trials with 3D-printed implants since 2012. The implants are made from titanium, a common material used in traditional orthopedic implants, and are strategically porous so that bone may naturally grow into the implant itself, securing the hardware and expediting the healing process.
With dozens of patients recovering well with no abnormal reactions to the 3D-printed implants, this experiment in utilizing 3D printing technology in medicine seems like it's heading in a positive direction.