3D printing helps docs perform rare surgery in US

Nagpur: About two years ago, a unique case came to Boston Children’s Hospital where the reconstruction of the skull needed to be done. This, apart from being a rare surgery, was a very risky one as well, and that’s when technology came to the rescue.

The hospital’s simulator programme helped doctors to create a 3D model of the child’s head and on it, practice surgeries were performed, thus almost eliminating all patient risks before the actual surgery. The goal of the hospital’s Simulation Program (also called SIMPeds) is to provide medical teams — physicians, nurses, technicians, pharmacists etc — the opportunity to practice and improve their skills in an environment that allows people to learn without risking patient harm.

About the case, Dr Dennis Daniel said, “Doctors did scans of the patient’s head and that data was used to make 3D models that were then printed. This model was used to first understand the relative anatomy peculiar to the patient and models were made that could be cut apart and practised on by doctors and the surgery was successful.”