On the application of three-dimensional printing in medical practice talking for a long time, and on this subject, conducted a lot of experimental studies. And here, according to the editors of the portal Plus China, at the hospital of the city of Chongqing in China 84-year-old patient in the world for the first time conducted a unique operation with the use of 3D printing technology.
The use of new technologies, Chinese scientists found in the operation on the knee joint of a person suffering from arthritis. According to statistics, the incidence of arthritis among older adults aged 50 to 59 years up to date of 62%. And at the moment in the later stages of the disease, the only salvation is a complete replacement of the damaged joint, but it is not always effective. Says Professor Yang Liu,
“Full knee replacement is the most effective way to treat arthritis late stage, because it can reduce the pain of patients and improve their quality of life, but there can be defects in the bone around the joint due to postoperative infections or other reasons. Their form varies greatly, and existing methods do not allow to correct these defects”.
Therefore, in order to avoid complications, 84-year-old patient has a defect on the knee filled with rare metal tantalum. It is often used in dental and surgical implants, but often it is used the alloy with titanium as the metal has a high melting point.
To overcome this limitation was developed porous tantalum in the form of special “pads”. They were created and printed individually for the patient by using computer-aided design and high-precision 3D printing. According to experts, this operation is carried out much easier, and the patient is already on the first day he was able to freely move my leg.
Conducted the first operation using 3D printing
Vladimir Kuznetsov