Big strides were made in the medical domain regarding 3D printing last year, however, just a few days into 2019 and we see yet another large breakthrough. Specifically, a procedure carried out in Bulgaria has seen a patient receive one of the first 3D-printed ribs in what could have been a lifesaving operation. Furthermore, the process itself consequently showed that a new approach to creating rib implants is possible, this process is called fused deposition modeling (FDM), and is cheaper in both machine and material costs than other similar procedures.
Mateusz Sidorowicz, director of marketing at 3DGence, the company that made the 3D printer used, told Digital Trends: “[The] patient, Ivaylo Josifov, was diagnosed with a rib deformation,” adding: “The doctors were concerned that the deformity may progress, and decided to replace the rib with an implant. Unfortunately, traditional implants — made from titanium, for example — are very expensive. Also, the titanium itself is not a perfect material for replacing ribs.”
This, of course, isn’t the finale of 3D printing technology in the medical field but it definitely is an outstanding achievement. I guess we will have to wait and see where the tech can take us from here.
