We’ve covered many stories in which 3D printing has aided in the planning of surgeries, with patient-specific, 3D printed models cutting surgery time drastically by providing doctors with a detailed visual representation of the areas in which they are about to operate. Today, however, we report on the first time that the practice has been implemented in the risky procedure of separating conjoined twins.
Students at Brenham High School have, literally, given a hand to a two-year-old boy named Kaedon, The San Francisco Globe reports. Kaedon suffers from amniotic band syndrome, a syndrome caused by a fetus becoming entangled in fibrous string-like amniotic bands in the womb. As a result of this syndrome, Kaedon was born with his right hand not fully formed. When Kaedon’s mother, Jeannette Olson, heard that the local high school had a 3D printer, she decided to see if they could help her child.
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Mina Khan was born with a broken heart. Specifically, she had a large hole between her ventricles. This defect prevented the normal circulation of blood through her heart chambers and lungs, leaving the little girl constantly exhausted. Mina could not put on weight, and her hair would not grow. She needed a miracle, and the challenge to save her life was accepted by an innovative team of surgeons at St. Thomas Hospital in London, and a 3D printer.
Let it be known that a physical disability has never prevented the determined musician from pursuing their passion. My preferred example is history’s greatest guitarist, Django Reinhardt, who, after a fire paralyzed the third and fourth fingers on his left hand, used only his index and middle fingers to be one of the fastest, yet most elegant jazz guitarist the world has ever known.
Until now, several different groups of researchers have developed small masses of tissue as implants, but now they are trying to create a clear path to their actual use. In Japan, scientists have made progress towards using a 3D printer to fabricate custom-made skin, bones, and joints.
As reports of surgeons using 3D printed models to prepare for surgeries become more of common news stories in our industry, we should take a moment to celebrate what appears to be the emergence of a new standard of care, and an amazing teaching tool.
The BIOFABRIS is a National Institute of S&T in Biomanufacturing of multidisciplinary,
located at the Chemical Engineering Campus of UNICAMP, character that aims to integrate computational tools, synthesis and development of new biomaterials and application of engineering techniques to obtain biomedical devices (prostheses and orthopedic orthoses) and substitutes for live biological tissues or defective or missing human organs.