3D Printed Models by Osteo3d Help Surgeons Remove Tumors From Indian Man’s Jaw

With innovations like 3D printed surgical models from Osteo3d, patients can have a return to a quality of life they may have given up on or never knew at all, as well as cosmetic benefits that help them psychologically. Doctors also receive the benefit of extremely helpful 3D models that can reduce some of the extreme challenge — not to mention stress — in completing very intricate contouring and implantation procedures.

This was exactly the case in India recently, as a patient known as ‘Mr. P’ needed to have benign and malignant tumors removed from his jaw, which involved taking away enough of a margin to ensure that the cancer was completely removed and that the tumors would not grow back.

3D printed mandible

With such an aggressive tumor removal, reconstruction is recommended, and considered crucial to the patient’s recovery psychologically. His employment future is a realistic consideration as well, since he would have been considerably disfigured without the reconstruction, and there was the worry of prejudice in the job marketplace.

This type of reconstruction is not so easily done though, as the area of jawbone removed is typically replaced with the fibula supporting bone from the lower limb, along with its blood vessels. While this is obviously a surgery involving a multitude of details that must be carefully attended to, the contouring of the replacement bone presents the greatest challenge for the surgeon.

By using a 3D printed surgical model constructed by Osteo3d, at least some of the difficulty was offset in that task by allowing Mr. P’s surgeon to have a replica of the jawbone. This luxury eliminated an enormous amount of time spent in refining the contour of the bone, as accurate calculations are immediate with the model, which represents the former jaw bone. Allowing for accurate contouring, the new bone was able to take the place of the old one with a nearly perfect fit.

Osteo3d is headquartered in India, and specializes in the business of creating the customized 3D printed surgical guides which undoubtedly make everybody’s lives better. Having a representation of a body part in 3D helps in a multitude of ways, from educating the patient in a number of aspects, to pre-operative planning, to having the 3D printed model available as a reference during surgery.

In another example, involving a child with cancer being removed from his jawbone, Dr. Satyajit Dandagi was also able to benefit from a 3D printed model from Osteo3d, used during reconstruction. With another reconstruction involving implantation from the leg bone to the jawbone, the 3D printed model was used in the operating room to ensure that the fit and shape of the newly contoured bone were accurate for implanting in the jaw.

Patients undergoing these procedures are up and running within a couple of weeks, and can quickly look forward to having new teeth implants and getting back to their old lives. This procedure was completed in Bangladore, India by maxillo-facial surgeon Dr. Satyajit Dandagi, and his team: Dr. Chavan Purushotam, Dr. Pruthvi Balepur, and Dr. Ahutosh Patil.

Tell us what you think of the latest impacts 3D printing is having in the medical field in the Osteo3d forum over at 3DPB.com.