Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

First 3D Printed Tibia Replacement

Reporter: Irina Robu, PhD

Current advances have allowed 3D printing of biocompatible materials, cells and supporting components into complex 3D functional living tissues. 3D bioprinting has already been used for the generation and transplantation of several tissues, including multilayered skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and cartilaginous structures. Thanks to 3D printing, an Australian man got to keep his leg. The man, Reuben Lichter nearly lost his leg above the knee due to a bacterial infection. Doctors told him that he had osteomyelitis which infected his entire bone. Lichter’s bacterial disease of osteomyelitis affects 2 in every 10,000 people in the United States. He had two choices: an experimental procedure using the 3D printed bone or lose his leg. For Lichter, the choice was easy.

Michael Wagels who served as the lead surgeon performed the world’s first-ever transplant surgery using a 3D printed bone. The scaffold was initially modeled at Queensland University of Technology. Biomedical engineers designed the scaffold to promote bone growth around it and then slowly dissolve over time. To have the body successfully grow around the scaffold, the team introduced tissue and blood vessels from both of Lichter’s legs to the scaffold. The surgery itself happened over five operations at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital.

However, the next major challenge for biomedical engineers is how to successfully 3D print organs.

SOURCE

https://interestingengineering.com/australian-man-gets-worlds-first-3d-printed-tibia-replacement