A baby of just two weeks old with congenital heart defects has undergone a lifesaving operation which was able to be performed thanks to a combination of 3D printing and MRI technology. A surgeon was able to perform the operation using a novel technique which revolved around taking MRI images of the baby’s heart and then creating a 3D map of it.
[Image Courtesy of MorganStanleyHospital]
The 3D printed heart allowed doctors to study the heart in detail and be used for practice until they knew exactly what needed doing before they even started the operation on the baby. Typically when doing surgery to repair heart deformations the chest of the patient has to be opened and the heart stopped, so that the defects can be studied before then repairing it. The 3D printed heart did away with the need to do this.
[Image Courtesy of MorganStanleyHospital]
Dr Bacha, from the Morgan Stanley Hospital in Manhattan said that the 3D printed heart was treated as a road map and this meant that they didn’t have to open up the babies chest and study the heart before going on to perform a second operation. Instead, just one operation was needed to save the life of the baby.
The 3D printed heart showed that the baby’s heart had many holes and unusually structured heart chambers. Any surgery performed was going to be dangerous and complicated, but due to the heart being printed out in 3D, the surgeons and doctors were able to take their time and study it in detail, without the patient being at risk.
[Image Courtesy of MorganStanleyHospital]
The 3D printed heart project was funded by a foundation based in Connecticut, Matthews Hearts of Hope. The founder of the foundation said that it is a game changer for babies that suffer from complicated heart anatomy.
This is a superb example of how technology and 3D printing can change our world for the better. 3D printing has made a huge difference to the family of the patient along with the patient themselves and of course it has changed their lives forever for the good.
