3D프린터로 만든 발꿈치 뼈, 국내 첫 수술 성공
The advantage of 3D printing is that it can be perfectly customized for its users.
And for the first time in Korea, doctors have successfully implanted a 3D-printed heel bone into a patient suffering from tumor.
Kim Hye-sung reports.
Grey titanium sculpted using state-of-the-art 3D printing technology.
As highly-pressurized air is pumped into the box, you can see the implant taking shape.
With a CT scan, a 3D implant design, and a laser beam to melt the titanium, a skull is created.
Using conventional surgery methods, this young man would have had to wait for an unspecified amount of time to find suitable bone tissue or even have his foot amputated.
But armed with the 3D printer,... the medical team was able to make a heel bone for him in just two weeks.
"The heel bone is strong enough to support the patient's weight and it perfectly fits his anatomy, significantly lowering the possibility of a complication developing down the line."
Korea is currently leading the way in applying 3D technology and was the first country in the world to approve the use of 3D printed cranium implants for surgeries.
"So far this year, more than one-hundred 3D printed implant surgeries have been performed in Korea. One such surgery was done on a 16-year-old girl who developed a tumor on her pelvis in 2015."
The 3D-printed pelvic bone, cut the surgery time in half,... to FOUR hours, speeding up the patient's recovery time and enabling her to walk within a week of the surgery, instead of the usual four-week period.
"This is an X-ray that was taken of Ms. Kang last month. You can see the ligaments have grown out and is perfectly attached to the implanted pelvic bone, meaning the surgery was a success."
As the number of successful surgeries rises, the use of 3D printing for medical applications is expected to grow even further.
But, the 3D printing market is still in its infancy,... and due to a lack of insurance policies is ten times more expensive than conventional surgeries.
Doctors also add that patients also need to be closely monitored in case there are any unknown long-term consequences.
Kim Hye-sung, Arirang News.
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