“The airway splint is one of the earliest 3D printed medical implants. More importantly, this is the first 3D printed implant specifically designed to change shape over time to allow for a child’s growth before finally resorbing as the disease is cured,” Dr Green said.
Scott Hollister, professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan University, said that each implant was designed to accommodate the growth of each baby in what the scientists have called “4D” design.
“We were concerned not just with how the splint opens the airway when implanted, but also that the splint allows the airway to grow over time,” Professor Hollister said.
“Allowing growth is part of 4D material design, with the fourth dimensional design being how the splint opens during airway growth because of is geometry, and resorbs as time progresses to leave a normal airway,” he said.
The three boys were treated as emergencies because there was no other viable option. However, a clinical trial involving about 30 patients with 3D printed throat splints is now being planned, the scientists said. The team also printed out polymer replicas of each boy’s windpipe and lungs so that they could practice on inserting the implant before the actual operation. The researchers said that it can take between one and two days between scanning a patient and producing an implantable device.
Dr Green said: “We are pleased to find that all of our cases so far have proven to improve these patients’ lives. The potential of 3D-printed medical devises to improve outcomes for patients is clear, but we need more data to implement this procedure in medical practice.”
By Steve Connor,
The Independent, Wednesday 29 April 2015
View this article