Medical

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Inside the 3D Printing Process of Life-Saving Bioresorbable Splint

Surgeons at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital recently implanted a 3D-printed tracheal splint to open up the airways and save the life of eighteen-month old Garrett Peterson, who was suffering from a condition called tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve. Garrett is the second baby whose life was saved with the bioresorbable device, developed at the University of Michigan by doctors Glenn Green and Scott Hollister. The device was created directly from a CT scan of Garrett's trachea and bronchi, integrating an image-based computer model with laser-based 3D printing to produce the splint. In this video, research specialist Colleen Flanagan explains the process behind 3D printing the splint.