3D Printing for Life
How 3D printers are saving lives right now
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From its start molding tools out of liquid polymers in 1983, 3D printing has long promised to change the world. The more advanced printers today have allowed the technology to move into scientific fields and finally, this invention is making good on those promises.
Baby’s first surgery
Imagine, after nine long months of excitement and anticipation, your new baby has finally arrived. The first thing you want to know from the doctor is “Are they healthy?” For many families the answer to this question turns out to be heartbreaking. But now, thanks to a couple of innovative doctors and a 3D printer, that terrible answer just got reversed for some.
According to the Children’s Heart Foundation, nearly 1 out of every 100 babies is born with a congenital heart defect. Depending upon the problem, some of these babies will suffer from a lack of oxygen and can even stop breathing completely.
This was the case for baby Garrett who was born with tetralogy of Fallot, and is now making medical history. Garrett’s heart defect caused tracheobronchomalacia, a condition in which his airways were so weak they would often collapse, resulting in suffocation if there was no medical intervention.
Garrett was placed on a ventilator before his parents even had a chance to hold him. He spent his first 18 months of life in the hospital. It was after Garrett’s parent’s found on article on a baby with a similar problem that they began to have hope of one day taking Garrett home.
Baby Kaiba also suffered from tracheobronchomalacia soon after birth. He too was placed on a ventilator. Kaiba had the good fortune to be a patient of Dr. Glenn Green and Dr. Scott Hollister of the University of Michigan. They were able to create a bio-compatible, 3D printed splint that was surgically placed in Kaiba’s airways to stabilize them. These splints are so small and specialized that 3D printing was the only option to manufacture them. Two years after the surgery, Kaiba is healthy and happily running around getting into as much mischief as he can.
Kaiba’s story gave Garrett’s parents hope. They were able to obtain a special emergency clearance from the FDA for the operation and Drs. Green and Hollister soon got to work again.
Their first task was to take a CT scan of Garrett’s trachea and bronchi so they could custom design the splint using an image-based computer model. Using a laser-based 3D printer, they created Garrett his very own specialized medical device. As soon as the splints were in place, Garrett started breathing on his own before the surgery was even complete.
The synthetic biodegradable polymer (the special plastic the stints were made of) will be reabsorbed into Garrett’s body and be completely gone within 3 years. The doctors believe that this is about the same amount of time it will take Garrett’s bronchi to remodel and grow so that he will be able to breathe on this own.
This material has been in use for many years in dental devices and vascular stints for adults. By combining it with 3D printing, it has become a customized life saving device.
"Severe tracheobronchomalacia has been a condition that has frustrated me for years," says Dr. Green. "I've seen children die from it. To see this device work, for a second time, it's a major accomplishment and offers hope for these children."
Building a better skull
A woman in the Netherlands found herself in a increasingly dangerous and deteriorating situation. She suffered from a condition that caused her bones to grow abnormally thick. A normal skull is around 1.5cm thick, this woman’s skull had grown to 5cm. This thickening placed a high amount of pressure on her brain, causing her to lose her vision and impair her basic motor coordination. If nothing was done, she would continue to lose essential brain functions and die.
The prevailing treatment options for her condition was surgery to either remove part of the skull permanently, or to create a small replacement piece with a type of surgical cement.
These methods could lead to improvements, but they were far from ideal. The cement could cause cosmetic oddities and the pressure on the brain would only be reduced in a small area. This did not always allow for optimal brain function recovery.
The lead doctor on the woman’s case was able to create a better solution. Dr. Ben Verweij, of the University Medical Center in Utrecht, and his team used a 3D printer to create an entirely new plastic skull fitted exactly to her, replacing her abnormally thick skull, and relieving the pressure on the brain.
"It's now three months after the operation. The patient has fully regained her vision, she has no more complaints, she's gone back to work and there are almost no traces that she had any surgery at all," Dr. Verweij stated.
Home-grown organs
Research is currently being done to print entire new organs with live cells. Combined with new advances in pluripotent stem cell research, this could lead to the production of replacement organs using a person’s own cells. Currently, approximately 7,000 people a year die waiting for organ transplants. This could eliminate the need for a donor match and allow more people the chance at a longer life.
Not only could this research impact transplants and specialized medicine, it could also have future implications for research. Scientists would be able to study, and test drugs and treatments on these tailor-made organs; leading to the possibility of speeding up the currently very long and arduous process of getting new drugs to the market and a better understanding of disease models.
These innovative techniques are only just the beginning of what is to come. The future is bright as 3D printing ushers in the new era of customized medicine.
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