The rise of 3D printing technology has made every part of the human body customizable. Recently, a 22-year-old Dutch woman suffered from a very rare disease: her skull became thicker and thicker. To this end, the doctor completely removed her skull and replaced it with a complete skull 3D printed with medical implant material! This operation was performed at the Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands. According to the hospital, this is the first operation in the world to replace a human with a complete 3D printed skull.
According to the surgeon Bon Verweij who performed the operation, the patient's skull became thicker and thicker, putting too much pressure on the brain. By the time of the operation, the thickness of her skull had reached 5 cm, while the thickness of a normal skull was about 1.5 cm. Before the operation, due to the powerful pressure on the brain, the patient had lost sight and lost the ability to make facial expressions. If the condition persists, death is only a matter of time.
The Utrecht University Medical Center is in a leading position in the field of regenerative medicine and 3D bioprinting research. Tiangongshe (http://maker8.com) has reported that the institution just established an experimental tissue factory in Utrecht in February this year in collaboration with other scientific research institutions for research and training in biological manufacturing. Prior to this operation, Dr. Verweij had many experiences in 3D reconstruction and printing of skulls. The doctors finally decided to replace the patient's skull with a 3D printed plastic skull. The medical team designed a 3D model of the skull and then found an Australian company specializing in 3D printing to print it out.
The Utrecht University Medical Center had previously performed surgery to replace a part of the skull, but never replaced a complete skull. The operation was led by a medical team led by Verweij and another surgeon Marvick Muradin in about 23 hours. According to the hospital, this operation was a huge success.
The operation took place at the end of 2013, and the hospital waited three months before publishing the news of the operation because they must first ensure that everything went smoothly. "This lady's vision has been restored and she has returned to work again. If you look at the situation before the operation, it is almost impossible." Verweij said.
The University of Utrecht Medical Center says such surgery can be used to treat patients with cancer on the skull and severe head injuries.
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