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Patient Receives 3D-Printed Ribs Via Surgery

Patient Receives 3D-Printed Ribs Via Surgery


As long as companies like Apple and Microsoft exist, technology will keep getting better and better. But those two companies work with gadgets that go on desks or in pockets; medical technology is probably out of their comfort zone. Luckily, it’s not out of the comfort zone of others — and there’s proof of that now, thanks to a successful, landmark surgery.

Not long ago, a Spanish man was diagnosed with cancer; worse yet, the tumor grew around his rib cage, which meant that he needed both a part of it and his entire sternum removed. While prosthetics might have offered a good, if difficult, alternative, the patient’s surgical team had a different idea: they would insert a titanium version of the bones made with a 3D printer. Despite the unexpected source, the operation proved successful and the patient recovered without issue.

The 3D ribcage is the product of medical company Anatomics and the printing facility Lab 22. They touted the process as the end result of collected CT data; whereas prosthetics couldn’t easily recreate all the necessary details and contours needed for a rib cage, the titanium version they released managed that in a snap. Given that they’ve succeeded here — and in the past with the printing of other 3D bones — there’s clear proof that technology does more than make our lives easier; it can actually save them.