It's certainly something to chew on, An 83 year old Belgian woman is now able to eat, speak and breathe normally again after a machine printed her an entirely new jaw bone - a world first. Her own jaw was destroyed by an infection called osteomyelitis, but the new one, made from a fine titanium powder sculpted by a precision layer, works just as well.
The team at Biomed, the biomedical research department of the university of Hasselt in Belgium used an MRI scan of the patient's jaw bone to get the shape right. They then fed it into a laser sintering 3D printer which fused titanium particles layer by layer until the shape of her jaw bone was recreated. It was then coated in a biocompatible ceramic layer ( see picture ).
No detail was spared; it had dimples and cavities to allow muscle to attach, and sleeves to allow nerves to pass through, plus support structures for dental implants that the woman might need in future.
The team were astonished at the success of the 4-hour implant operation, which took place in June 2011 but was only announced this week. "Shortly after waking up from the anaestheic the patient spoke a few words, and the day after was able to speak and swallow normally," says operation leader Jules Poukens.
Until now, probably the largest 3D-printed body part was half of a man's upper jawbone, implanted ina 2008 operation in Finland.
The team at Biomed, the biomedical research department of the university of Hasselt in Belgium used an MRI scan of the patient's jaw bone to get the shape right. They then fed it into a laser sintering 3D printer which fused titanium particles layer by layer until the shape of her jaw bone was recreated. It was then coated in a biocompatible ceramic layer ( see picture ).
No detail was spared; it had dimples and cavities to allow muscle to attach, and sleeves to allow nerves to pass through, plus support structures for dental implants that the woman might need in future.
The team were astonished at the success of the 4-hour implant operation, which took place in June 2011 but was only announced this week. "Shortly after waking up from the anaestheic the patient spoke a few words, and the day after was able to speak and swallow normally," says operation leader Jules Poukens.
Until now, probably the largest 3D-printed body part was half of a man's upper jawbone, implanted ina 2008 operation in Finland.
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