Surgeons use 3D-printed heart to save a child’s life, study heart defect,
Surgeons in Louisville, Kentucky have successfully used a 3D-printed model of a heart to study the heart defect of a 14 month-old boy and save his life. Roland was born with a hole in his heart, with a deformed aorta and pulmonary artery. With the 2D CT data turned into a 3D model and blown up to twice the normal size, it was far easier for the medical team to see the problems they were dealing with.
According to Doctor Austin , the gamble paid off.What the 3D model showed was that he could make a tunneled pathway between the aortic valve and a ventricle, avoiding multiple surgeries and the need for more cuts. Roland is expected to make a full recovery.
The ability to build a larger-than-life scale model of a body part quickly and at a reasonable price could make expensive exploratory surgery less necessary and improve the amount of time it takes to repair damage once a problem has been located.
marc ferram 