3D vertebrae printing to cure cancer

This is a great first for the medical world, and it took place at Prince of Wales Hospital in Australia this week.

For the first time a patient received two 3D vertebrae using new printers, the long and tedious operation helped cure him of cancer and possible paralysis. Back on a medical operation from the future!

A very delicate big first

It was a rare and very complex medical case faced by the doctor mobbs and Anatomics, an Australian manufacturer of medical devices. The operation that took more than 15 hours was a success, but the difficulties started long before … The patient suffered in the 1960s from a particularly aggressive form of cancer which strongly attacked two of his cervical vertebrae. As they grew older, the risk of paraplegia became increasingly strong…

This operation must therefore meet very delicate constraints, indeed, the cervical vertebrae responsible for the neck and head movements cannot be replaced by a simple graft… These must match perfectly to allow the patient to use his neck in the same way as if he always had the same.

3D vertebrae to repair the past

In collaborating with the Australian manufacturer Anatomics, Doctor Mobbs, responsible for the operation was able benefit from prostheses perfectly adapted to the patient's anatomy, since they are actually titanium reproductions of his own vertebrae cervical, 3D printed.

This surgery using new technologies is still in its infancy and we’ve even been able to print organs with “organic” 3D printers. So it's a great first for the advancement of medicine, a fully personalized medicine and thus allow a better recovery of patients with almost no risk of rejection.

We are entered a new era, because if this operation is successful for a single person who seemed to be condemned to paralysis, she opens up a limitless range of possibilities. The future we were talking about a few years ago is hitting us hard and accelerating more and more!

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