Doctors Save Baby’s Life, Use 3-D Printer to “Print” Him a New Airway

[Valin]

LifeNews:

 

Steven Ertelt

5/23/13

 

 

Doctors at the University of Michigan have saved a babys life using the marvels of modern technology to print the child a new airway using a goundbreaking 3-D printer to restore his breathing.

 

 

From the University of Michigan:

 

Every day, their baby stopped breathing, his collapsed bronchus blocking the crucial flow of air to his lungs. April and Bryan Gionfriddo watched helplessly, just praying that somehow the dire predictions werent true.

 

(Snip)

 

Green and his colleague, Scott Hollister, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and associate professor of surgery at U-M, went right into action, obtaining emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to create and implant a tracheal splint for Kaiba made from a biopolymer called polycaprolactone.

 

On February 9, 2012, the specially-designed splint was placed in Kaiba at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital. The splint was sewn around Kaibas airway to expand the bronchus and give it a skeleton to aid proper growth. Over about three years, the splint will be reabsorbed by the body. The case is featured today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

(Snip)

 

Green and Hollister were able to make the custom-designed, custom-fabricated device using high-resolution imaging and computer-aided design. The device was created directly from a CT scan of Kaibas trachea/bronchus, integrating an image-based computer model with laser-based 3D printing to produce the splint.

(Snip)