3D printing aids operations on children

3D printing is an increasingly important technology in the medical sector, especially in paediatric surgery

3D printed trachea

A 3D printed model of a trachea helped Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) surgeons perform more accurate surgical procedure on a child.

The exact replica, 3D printed model of the six-year-old’s trachea allowed the anaesthetic team at GOSH to match up the most appropriately sized tubes and practice their insertion in to the airways prior to surgery.

This shortened the amount of time which the child was under anaesthetic and made the surgery “safer, quicker and easier,” according to Owen Arthurs GOSH consultant radiologist.

3D printed heart

Stratasys 3D printers were used by Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami to print the life-like anatomical heart of five-year-old Mia Gonzalez.

Stratasys printed a 3D model of Gonzalez’s heart so the children’s hospital surgical team could study it and optimally visualise her heart structure.

After 3D printing and examining Gonzalez’s heart model Nicklaus Children's hospital doctors determined the best course of action and performed a successful surgery.

3D printed skeleton

Doctors at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital carried out China’s first orthopaedic surgery using 3D technology on a six-year-old that had suffered multiple fractures in his legs.

The breaks were so severe that the surgeons could not use a standard x-ray film to study the child so printed a 3D model of the skeleton to establish where to cut the bones in advance. It also minimised the operation time and made the surgery possible.