Monday, March 28, 2016

Austrailian Doctor was able to Successfully Preform the First Ever 3D Printed Spinal Implant Surgery

       Dr. Ralph Mobbs, a Neurosurgeon at the Neuro Spine Clinic at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Australia, was able to preform the first-ever spinal transplant using 3-D printed titanium vertebra in the transplant during a 15-hour long surgery.  His 60 year-old patient suffered from a severe form of cancer known as Chordoma that resided in two tumors that inhabited the two vertebrae that are involved with rotation of the head. Since the tumors are located so high up on the spine, if left untreated, the tumors would eventually grow to compress the brain stem and spinal chord, which would cause quadriplegia. Due to the high risk that comes with the surgery to remove these tumors means it often goes un-treated, until now… Normally in this surgery doctors would try to reconstruct the vertebrae using bone from another place in the body, but according to Dr. Mobbs it can be very difficult to get a good fit; hence why the surgery is not a popular one.
Dr. Mobbs says 3D printing allows him and many other doctors to customize body parts for specific patients, allowing them to achieve that perfect fit that’s crucial for success. To make the vertebrae implants for this patient, Dr. Mobbs worked with an Australian medical device company named Anatomics. Along with the vertebrae implants, the company also printed the doctor a bunch of models of the patient's exact anatomy so he was able to practice the surgery a few times before walking into the operating room, lowering the risks of this high risk surgery even more than one thought was possible, an amazing accomplishment in the medical field!
In this article Dr, Mobbs said, "There's no doubt this is the next big wave of medicine. For me, the holy grail of medicine is the manufacturing of bones, joints and organs on-demand to restore function and save lives." For Mobbs next step forward in this medical advancement, he wants to be able to harvest and use cells from the patient’s body onto a 3D scaffold in order to grow fully customized implants, instead of using titanium implants! This technique could be increasingly useful for organ transplants and the like- eliminating the waiting game that comes with needing an organ transplant.

Source: http://mashable.com/2016/02/25/3d-printed-vertebrae-spine/#9XTukUxwAkqj

-Kelsey Morrison (2)

3 comments:

  1. I wrote a blog post about the possible reality of successful human head transplantation. Such a procedure would be one of the most complicated in history and would require massive amounts of resources. This blog post made me wonder how extensively, if at all, 3D-printing would be used in such a highly experimental operation. This article in particular has convinced me that 3D-printing could help solve many problems faced with experimental treatments like head transplants. Seemingly far-fetched medical procedures might not be as crazy as you once thought, thanks to new technologies like 3D-printing.

    Bradley Sarasin (Group 3)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember reading your post! Its crazy to think about how much 3D printing can help advance our doctors skills and also raise the success rates of these high risk surgeries.

      Delete
  2. Hello everyone out there, I'm here to give my testimony about a herbalist doctor who helped me. I was infected with HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS in 2011, I went to many hospitals to heal myself but there was no solution, so I was thinking how I can get a solution so that my body can be well. One day I was in the river thinking about where I can go to get a solution. so a lady walked towards me telling me why I'm so sad and I open everything by telling her my problem, she told me she could help me, she introduced me to a doctor who uses herbal medicines to cure the SIMPLEX HERPES VIRUS and gave me your email, so I sent you an email. He told me everything I had to do and also gave me instructions to take, which I followed correctly. Before I knew what was happening after two weeks, the SIMPLEX HERPES VIRUS that was in my body disappeared. therefore, if you also have a broken heart and need help, you can also send an email to {oliha.miraclemedicine@gmail.com}or whatsapp him number: +2349038382931 or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/drolihamiraclemedicine/Contact him today and he will have a testimony ... Good luck!
    Dr. OLIHA also cures:1. HIV / AIDS2. HERPES 1/23. CANCER4. ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)5. Hepatitis B6. chronic pancreatic7. emphysema8. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)...........

    ReplyDelete