An Australian neurosurgeon has completed a world-first marathon surgery removing cancer-riddled vertebrae and successfully replacing them with a 3D-printed body part.
MATT WORDSWORTH, PRESENTER: An Australian neurosurgeon has delivered a world-first, successfully removing two cancerous vertebrae from a patient’s neck and replacing them with a 3D-printed artificial bone part. There was a risk the patient would die on the operating table during the mammoth 15-hour surgery, which first separated and then successfully reattached the skull to the spinal tissue with the new 3D-printed bone. Doctors say 3D-printed body parts will spearhead a new wave of medicine, allowing customised replacements of bones and organs. Conor Duffy reports.
RALPH MOBBS, NEUROSURGEON: The patient’s head is attached to almost like a GPS tracking system, which is this attached to that machine there.
Source: abc.net.au; image: anatomics.com