Transplant Jaw: Will 3D Printers Lead to Innovation in Surgical Procedures?
By Rob Scott
February 10, 2012
February 10, 2012
- Here’s an application you may not have envisioned for 3D printers…
- BBC News reports that an 83-year-old woman with a chronic bone infection has become the first to receive an artificial jaw implant constructed using 3D printing technology.
- Doctors in the Netherlands performed the surgery last year using a jaw comprised of thousands of printed layers of titanium dust that were heated and fused together by a laser. Once designed, the jaw only took a few hours to print.
- “Technicians say the operation’s success paves the way for the use of more 3D-printed patient-specific parts,” reports BBC News. “The team said that it expected similar techniques to become more common over the coming years.”
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