Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-08-20
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A 3D printer on display at the 3rd China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, Yunnan province, June 13. (File photo/CNS) |
Doctors in
east China's Jiangsu province recently used a 3D-printed heart to plan a
surgery for a nine-month old baby with congenital heart disease.
The baby
boy, from Anhui province, was found with five holes in his heart chambers after
birth. The child underwent surgery at Nanjing Children's Hospital on July 3 and
had three holes closed. The other two were left open due to difficulty locating
them accurately using a b-scan.
Planning
the second procedure, surgeon Sun Jian and his team created a 3D printed model
of the child's heart in order to better locate the holes. The second operation
was carried out on July 21 and went smoothly, Sun said.
Currently
the child is in stable condition and recovering.
This is
likely the first time 3D technology was used in curing a child's congenital
heart disease in China, Sun said.
"The
technology is a blessing for children with complicated heart deformities. The
printed heart model can help doctors better understand the anatomical structure
of the heart before operation," he said.
"With
the development of 3D technology and material, the technology will be more
widely used in medicine in the future," he said.
"However,
there are still obstacles. Professionals of 3D technology are strangers to
medicine while doctors usually know nothing about 3D technology. The two
areas need to have more exchanges."
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