Technology opens possibilities for customized care
The Columbian
Published: May 3, 2015, 5:00pm
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Joe Hallisy/University of Michigan
An airway splint created on a 3-D printer is shown before doctors implant it to hold open a child's weakened airway. It will expand as the tot grows. University of Michigan researchers created the experimental implant, credited with saving the lives of three boys, an example of how 3-D printing could customize medical care.
WASHINGTON — In a striking example of how 3-D printers could customize medical care, doctors turned powdered plastic into tiny devices that saved the lives of three baby boys by holding open defective airways so they could breathe — and the implants even expanded as the tots grew.
These experimental airway splints actually change shape over time, adding what researchers call a fourth dimension that is key for growing children as the implants first expand and later, when no longer needed, harmlessly dissolve.
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