Surgeon Makes History By Inserting 3D Printed Vertebrae Into Patient’s Neck
An Australian surgeon has made medical history after inserting 3D-printed vertebrae into the neck of a cancer patient for the first time ever.
Late last year, neurosurgeon Ralph Mobbs was faced with a patient suffering from a virulent form of cancer, known as chordoma.
But as Dr Mobbs explained, the tumour was located in a particularly tricky location for surgeons to remove.
He said: ‘At the top of the neck, there are two highly-specialised vertebrae that are involved in the flexion and rotation of the head. This tumour had occupied those two vertebrae.’
If left untreated, the tumour may have compressed the brain and spinal cord - causing the patient to suffer massive paralysis.
But Dr Mobbs decided that it was possible to remove the tumour - and realised that 3D printing would give him a perfect fit when it came to reconstructing the affected vertebrae.
What followed next has been hailed as a medical breakthrough - with Dr Mobbs successfully inserting the reconstructed vertebrae into the patient’s neck.
He told Mashable: ‘To be able to get the printed implant that you know will fit perfectly because you’ve already done the operation on a model … It was just a pure delight.
‘It was as if someone had switched on a light and said ‘crikey, if this isn’t the future, well then I don’t know what is.’
The operation took more than 15 hours to complete, and the patient is well on the way to recovery.
However, Dr Mobbs admits that the patient is having some difficulty swallowing, as the whole procedure was carried out through his MOUTH.
Incredible stuff.
