Washington: Surgeons in China successfully implanted an artificial, 3D-printed vertebra, for the first time, in a young boy suffering with bone cancer.
According to CCTV.com, during a five-hour operation, the doctors first removed the tumor located in the second vertebra of 12-year-old Minghao's neck and replaced it with the 3D-printed implant between the first and third vertebrae, CBS News reported.
Dr. Liu Zhongjun, the director of orthopedics at No. 3 Hospital, Peking University, said that using existing technology, the patient's head needed to be framed with pins after surgery, but with 3D printing technology, they could simulate the shape of the vertebra, which was much stronger and more convenient than traditional methods.
ANI
First Published: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 13:22
