A recent reconstructive surgery on a victim of a motorcycle accident, conducted partially using 3D printing technology, has set new boundaries for the applications of 3DesignCenter’s field of expertise.
The patient, 29-year-old Stephen Power, from Cardiff, Wales, spent four months in hospital after being the victim of a motorcycle accident two years ago. Despite wearing a crash helmet, the Welshman nonetheless suffered multiple lesions to his face, prompting the need for the surgical procedure. In the process, he became a guinea-pig of sorts, and a herald of just how widely the technology used by companies such as 3DesignCenter can be applied.
Mr. Power’s surgical process was one of the first in the world to be assisted by 3D printing at every stage. Certain operations in the past had applied this sort of technology to help correct congenital conditions, for example, but the present intervention went one step beyond, by using custom-printed plates, models, guides and implants that allowed the patient’s facial scarring to be corrected months, even years, after they had first been contracted.
According to surgeons at Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, the possibility of using 3D printed models to recreate the symmetry of the patient’s face did away with the need for guesswork. This allowed the surgical team to have an idea of what Mr. Powers looked like prior to the accident, and set about making sure his face was brought back to its previous state. The result, according to the patient himself, was no less than life-changing.
This operation was carried out at the Centre for Applied Reconstructive Technologies in Surgery (Cartis), a collaboration between the team in Swansea and scientists at Cardiff Metropolitan University. The success of the procedure could well catapult this partnership into further projects in the near future, and technicians from the University have come on record to state that it could also lead to an increase in the use of 3D printing technologies in the medical world. In the meantime, Mr. Powers’ operation is one of the exhibits on display at the Science Museum of London, in an exhibition named 3D Printing: The Future.
The UK is one of the pioneers in the use of 3D technology in the field of medicine, with previous advances having been made in London and Newcastle.
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