This Guy Beat Cancer With 3D-printed Titanium Chest Implants

A Spanish patient battling cancer has just won over this notorious disease through a titanium sternum and rib cage virtually designed and manufactured by bio tech company Anatomics in collaboration with Australian company CSIRO 3D printing facility. The amazing scientific breakthroughs that we only see in science fiction is rapidly coming into reality.

A Melbourne-based bio-tech company, Anatomics specializes in innovative medical experimentation and devices. Surgeons in this healthcare company used a series of high-resolution CT scans of the patient’s chest in order to replicate an accurate digital version of his bone structure.

Anatomics cooperated with the CSIRO to produce the 3D-printed implants that are safe to be installed inside the human body. The tech company used a high-powered electron beam to make the titanium more malleable, and safe for the patient. The old man from Salamanca, Spain received the world’s first 3D-printed titanium chest implant, allowing him to survive cancer.

Doctors recreated the patient's rib cage through virtual 3D modeling.

By scanning the patient's chest, doctors can accurately recreate organs inside the body to make exact replicas like this that can replace them.

For the past couple of years, reconstructive surgery depended on flat metal plates and screws. It’s not really a trusted procedure and many patients didn’t want to undergo such unsafe and uncertain medical method.

But, technology had improved this aspect of healthcare in promising new ways. By using 3D modeling to re-imagine and recreate a patient’s ribcage and sternum, and their unique nuances, the implant production have become more accurate and have turned out to be much safer and more reliable. A doctor from the surgical team said that 3D printing had made their implants fit their clients unique body types more perfectly.

A CSIRO representative explains the components of the 3D printed rib cage and how it fits perfectly inside the patient's body.

“Thanks to 3D printing technology and a unique resection template, we were able to create a body part that was fully customized and fitted like a glove,” José Aranda said.

The patient was discharged 12 days after the surgery, and is steadily recovering since then.

Here’s an awesome video that shows how the 3D printing process goes:

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