The ability to create your own replacement curtain rings, door
knobs or even a custom chess set at home using a 3D printer like the Replicator or the Cubify 3D printer
has the potential to knock global production models on their heads.
Such advances are certainly impressive but not quite in the same league
as those being made in the field of medicine. We've already seen small bone-like objects
printed by Washington State University researchers, and now an 83-year
old patient with a serious jaw infection has
become the first person to
receive a full 3D-printed titanium lower jaw implant. Amazingly, the
combined effort by researchers and engineers from Belgium and the
Netherlands is said to have allowed the patient unrestricted mandibular
movement within a day of surgery.
The researchers say that the implant's recipient had suffered from
the progressive infection for some time, which had caused a large wound
on her face. Microsurgical reconstruction was considered as a possible
solution, but would have meant long hours on the operating table
followed by an extended stay in hospital. Removal of just the damaged
bone was also an option but there would have been so little remaining in
this case that the jaw could not have functioned properly. It was
therefore deemed necessary to remove the entire lower mandible and
replace it with an implant.
Prof. dr. Jules Poukens, Prof. dr. Ivo Lambrichts, and Dr. Ingeborg
van Kroonenburgh from the Functional Morphology research group of the
University of Hasselt's BIOMED research institute worked with Dr. Ir.
Michäel Daenen from the Xios University College (Belgium), Prof. dr. Jos
Vander Sloten from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), Maikel
Beerens from Xilloc Medical BV (the Netherlands) and engineers from the
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of the Orbis Medical Center (the
Netherlands) on the design and implementation of the implant. The actual
3D-printing used additive laser melting technology and was undertaken
by LayerWise NV of Belgium. Other implant production methods are said to
take days before an implant is ready to be used, whereas a 3D-printed
implant is ready to go in a couple of hours.
The patient-specific 3D-printed lower jaw was fabricated from
titanium powder and weighs approximately 107 g (3.77 ounces), which is a
little heavier than its bone equivalent. It was coated with plasma
sprayed artificial bone (a hydroxy-apatite bone substitute compound) and
sites for fixing future prosthetics were incorporated into the design.
The patient underwent surgery in June 2011, where the inflamed mandible
was removed and the custom implant slotted in. The contour of the
patient's face was then restored. The patient is reported to have shown
normal function the day after surgery, although full healing took
longer.
Source: University of Hasselt
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