Capt. (Dr.) Wesley Reynolds studies a patient’s computed tomography scan at the Mike O’Callaghan Federal Medical Center March 18, 2014, at Nellis Air Force Base,
Source – US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jason Couillard / Released. Public Domain (CC0 1.0)
Technology is enabling breakthrough surgical procedures. By using the latest 3D-printing technologies, clinical teams worldwide are designing and building personalized implants to control costs, reduce procedure time and improve outcomes.
This includes two innovations, led by the company 3D Systems, at two European hospitals. The company uses stereolithography, fused deposition modelling, selective laser sintering, colour-jet printing, multi-jet printing, and direct metal printing.
Cranial implants
A patient-specific cranial implant produced with 3D Systems’ point-of-care additive manufacturing technologies was used in pioneering surgery at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland.
Under the charge of Florian Thieringer, head of the Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group at the University Hospital Basel’s Department of Biomedical Engineering (UNIBAS DBE), and the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, in collaboration with Raphael Guzman and the Department of Neurosurgery, the team employed technologies to produce the first cranial implant at the point of care that complies with the current medical devices regulations.
The implant created by the team at University Hospital Basel was used to successfully replace a section of disintegrating skull in a 46-year-old male who was experiencing complications from a stroke in 2019. When the patient first entered care, he was experiencing visual disturbances, severe headaches, and dizziness, and his forehead was sinking due to a disintegrating skullcap.
The University Hospital Basel team first took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the patient’s skull and imported that into software to create a model of the implant customized to his unique anatomy. The implant was then produced in the Hospital’s 3D printing lab using VESTAKEEP® i4 3DF PEEK by Evonik on 3D Systems’ EXT 220 MED extrusion platform.
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a useful material for such applications due to its mechanical properties (it is lightweight, resistant to thermal and ionizing radiation, and similar to human bone).
Oromaxillofacial surgery
3D Systems’ technologies were also used in surgery by a team at Salzburg University Hospital, Department of Oromaxillofacial Surgery, to produce a patient-specific cranial implant for a 55-year-old male who suffered from craniosynostosis (that is one of the cranial bones ossified too early during childhood, resulting in a deformation of the skull).
For this breakthrough, several technologies were brought together by the hospital’s in-house clinicians to successfully address the patient’s needs, providing a customized solution that best positioned the team for success. The hospital used Oqton’s D2P® software to create 3D models from the patient’s CT images and Oqton’s Geomagic Freeform® to complete the design of the patient-specific occipital prosthesis.
The cranial implant was printed using VESTAKEEP® i4 3DF PEEK by Evonik on 3D Systems’ EXT 220 MED extrusion platform.
These examples demonstrate how 3D printing is being used to create custom prosthetics and implants to meet the individual needs of a patient, improving functionality and aiding treatments.
Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal’s Editor-at-Large for science news.
Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.
