22 Year Old Receives Complete 3D Printed Cranium Replacement

Formnext

Share this Article

We have seen a number of surgeries in the last few months involving 3d printed patches to the human skull, however this procedure blows those all away. Surgeons at Utrecht University’s UMC in the Netherlands replaced the entire top of a 22 year old woman’s skull with a 3d printed customized implant made from plastic.

Neurologist, Bon Verweij

Neurologist, Bon Verweij

The woman suffered from a rare disorder in which her skull was gradually becoming thicker and thicker. The normal thickness of a human skull is approximately 1.5cm, but the patient’s skull was already close to 5cm in thickness, and growing. Continued growth would have eventually led to her death as the skull was compressing her brain, causing serious damage.implant-1

The 23 hour operation was performed by neurologist Bon Verweij, surgeon Marvick Muradin, and their highly skilled team. Normally surgeons would create an implant with a concrete like substance, which are heavier, and imperfect, as they are hand made. The plastic implant, which was created specialist Australian firm, had been customized for the patient.

“Implants used to be made by hand in the operating theatre using a sort of cement which was far from ideal,’ Verweij said. “Using 3D printing we can make one to the exact size. This not only has great cosmetic advantages, but patients’ brain function often recovers better than using the old method.”

The operation, which took place back in December, and was an overwhelming success, with the patient making a full recovery, and already returning to work, symptom free.  Discuss this procedure at 3D Print Board.  Also check out the video below for further details on this implant.



Share this Article


Recent News

Nanochon Gets Health Canada Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Trial of 3D Printed Implant

From Concept to Reality: Nikon AM CEO Hamid Zarringhalam on Executing a Metal 3D Printing Strategy



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

Nikon SLM Solutions Sells SLM 500 to Primary Weapon Systems to Expand Suppressor Production

Primary Weapons Systems (PWS) is a Boise, Idaho-based manufacturer of suppressors, firearms, and related components. A subsidiary of Vigilant Gear and a sister company to aftermarket Glock slide manufacturer Lone...

3DPOD 261: Tooling and Cooling for AM with Jason Murphy, NXC MFG

Jason Murphy´s NXC MFG (Next Chapter Manufacturing) is not a generalist service; instead, the company specializes in making tooling. Using LPBF and binder jet, the company produces some of the...

Featured

HP and Firestorm Labs Form Partnership to Use Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printers in Deployable Factories

HP Inc., maker of a range of additive manufacturing (AM) solutions including the Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) ecosystem, has announced a partnership with Firestorm Labs, a developer of containerized, deployable...

3D Printing News Briefs, July 2, 2025: Copper Alloys, Defense Manufacturing, & More

We’re starting off with metals in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as Farsoon has unveiled a large-scale AM solution for copper alloys, and Meltio used its wire-laser metal solution to...