Aug 19, 2015 | By Alec

Medical 3D printing innovations are slowly but steadily changing the medical landscape, but there is one among them that is already saving lives on a remarkable scale. It’s also the simplest, but no less important: 3D printed replica models of organs or fractures that can be used by doctors to prepare complex and unusual surgeries. The importance of this technique is again illustrated by Chinese doctors in Nanjing, China. There, the nine-month-old boy Chen Chen has just undergone successful and crucial heart surgery that had been prepared with the help of 3D printed heart replicas.

The young child in question, who hails from Xuancheng City, in the Anhui Province in China, was suffering from a remarkable form of congenital heart disease, that had left five different holes in his heart, all of different sizes – a life-threatening condition. Faced with this serious condition, the doctors decided to use 3D printing technology to create a model replica at a scale of 1:1 (complete with an observation hole). With the help of this model, they were able to properly prepare the subsequent surgery and save the life of Chen Chen. It is believed that this is the first time 3D printing technology was used in China to assist in a child’s heart surgery.

Mr. Jing, the boy’s farther, revealed that Chen Chen’s mother also suffered from a congenital heart disease called ‘tetralogy of fallot’, for which she was successfully operated at age 18. As this type of heart disease is genetic, the parents were aware of the risk they were taking. However, they were sure that the child could be successfully operated upon after birth should it have the same disease.

The couple went in for a scan when the expecting mother was nine months pregnant, upon which they found out that the condition was more serious than expected. This made both quite nervous. Chen Chen had suffered from numerous respiratory infections since he was born. For the last three months, the boy frequently suffered from coughing and fever, and the parents almost lived at the hospital throughout the period.

Fortunately, the doctors decided to transfer Chen Chen to the children’s hospital in Nanjing, where doctors discovered three holes in the boy’s heart – the largest being more than 2 cm in diameter. Because of this large atrial septal defect, the heart appeared to be a honeycomb. Doctors further established that the multiple ventricular septal defect in the heart muscle was causing severe pulmonary hypertension, which resulted in repeated infection of the lungs.

This condition was obviously very serious. ‘Such a big hole in the heart is even difficult for adults to bear, not to mention a three-month-old child,’ Sun Jian, Nanjing children's Hospital cardiothoracic surgery chief physician said. ‘if not treated early, if we waited until the child's pulmonary hypertension higher than limit, we might lose the opportunity to save his life.’ Although the couple expected a chance of congenital heart disease, neither thought it would be so severe due to this genetic condition. Mr Jing's wife reportedly also suffered a lot from the pain and guilt this caused.

Fortunately, surgery finally went underway on July 3, when the nine-month-old was brought under complete anesthesia due to the complex nature of the situation. The first surgery took 143 minutes, and as the hole was bigger than expected, doctors adopted the traditional way of temporarily stopping a heart from beating: a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, while keeping the baby breathing and provided with oxygen. While the operation went very well, Chen Chen quickly developed more breathing difficulties after the surgery. Further study revealed the boy had two other small holes in his heart, which were very difficult to detect in a 2D image.

Around that time, the doctors did learn about the successful application of 3D printing in the treatment in heart conditions, so with the parents’ consent they contacted a local 3D printing company. The company, through a series of iterations, developed an exact replica of the boy’s heart. ‘These models only cost 700 RMB – much cheaper than assumed, but we can perfectly see the condition of the child’s heart. The technology is great!’ Jing said. While he had heard of the technology’s existence, he further called this application miraculous.

Using this 3D printed model, the doctors took Chen Chen to a second surgery and successfully ‘filled the holes’ during the operation. This second operation took place on the 21st, and was done with invasive surgical procedures. With the help of the 3D printed heart model, the surgery only took 25 minutes.

Of course, recovery for a small baby is a long road, and Chen Chen spent a month on a breathing machine. He has since been moved away from the intensive care ward. But now, he can already play games with his mother and few people would say that the boy had suffered from congenital heart disease. Mr Jing said that he could now ‘go home and see my son in good health, which is great. All thanks to 3D printing. And although I still do not really understand the technology, I really admire it.’

According to surgeon Sun Jian said, Chen Chen is the first child in China with congenital heart disease to be saved by 3D printing technology. ‘It is a good news for other children with complex congenital heart disease, especially for those with intracardiac malformation complex structures and treatment of vascular anomalies.’

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

Maybe you also like:


   





Leave a comment:

Your Name:

 


Subscribe us to

3ders.org Feeds 3ders.org twitter 3ders.org facebook   

About 3Ders.org

3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.

News Archive