A 32-year-old Indian lady who lost support of skull and lower spine due to a disease manifested in her spine was cured by 3D spine implanting recently. This is for the first time, a 3D printed organ transplant is taking place in India.
Disease manifested in her spine was caused by a drug which she took for infertility. Her health condition became worse causing extensive damage in her cervical vertebrae.
Surgeons at Medanta – the Medicity in Gurgaon, India, replaced the lady’s damaged first, second and third vertebrae with a 3D printed titanium implant in a 10-hour surgery. In China, similar operations took place in 2014 and a surgery was performed a year ago in Australia.
“Given the complexity of this case, the use of 3D printing technology has helped us in bringing a successful outcome,” Dr. V Anand Naik, Senior Consultant (spine surgery) at Medanta’s Bone & Joint Institute said.
“The patient is now walking with minimal support, all her pain has gone, her voice and dysphasia have recovered completely and, most importantly, her life was saved by this technique,” he added.
CT and MRI scans were used to make a replica of the lady’s spine so that the cracks between her vertebrae could be evaluated to ensure that the final printed vertebra would fit perfectly.
The advancements that 3D printing has brought to the medical arena are truly amazing. We haven’t yet arrived at a state where we can do 3D printing procedure for complete human organs and transplant them into patients. However, the fact is that, even talking about such a thing as a practical possibility shows how quickly this technology changes the industry.
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