German Patient Walks Again with Patient-Specific 3D-Printed Hip Implant.

German patient Inge W. had been afflicted with a hip malformation since her birth. Due to an extensive number of intense surgeries and revisions throughout her life, there was very little bone left in her pelvic region, leaving a large hole in the bone and making it very difficult to attach a standard hip implant. As her condition grew worse, it seemed that Inge had no other choice but to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Fortunately, she was able to walk again with the help of a patient-specific 3D-printed hip implant. She approached the Helios ENDO-Klinik in Hamburg, Germany, Europe’s leading hospital in hip and knee surgery, to see if they could offer an alternative. After visiting with Dr. Thorsten Gehrke, the Medical Director of the clinic, it was clear that there was only one solution: a patient-specific hip implant, made-to-measure so it could fit the remaining bone perfectly. Dr. Gehrke turned to the 3D Printing expertise of Materialise for help with the case. First of all, a 3D model of Inge’s pelvis was digitally reconstructed, and then printed out. It helped to make the surgical procedure clear to Inge, and calm her fears – fears which were understandable, given that this was the tenth operation she would undergo on her hip! The 3D-printed model of her hip also played an even more important role in helping the surgeons at Helios ENDO-Klinik to plan the surgery and visualize the steps they needed to take to introduce the implant as accurately as possible. And finally, the implant itself was also constructed with 3D Printing using the Materialise aMace Integrated System; 3D-printed in titanium, the implant is completely adapted to the patient’s anatomy, ensuring a perfect fit and a much smaller risk of dislocation and impingement. During the operation, the surgeons were also able to place the aMace acetabular revision system and insert the screws as accurately as possible due to the implant trial and bone model we provided along with the 3D-printed hip implant. Furthermore, the 3D-printed drill guides enabled them to drill exactly where the screws needed to fix the implant in place. Therefore, it assured optimal mechanical stability and prevented the accelerated wear and early failure of the implant. Five months after Inge’s pelvic reconstruction, she is making a great recovery and can now walk completely unaided. We hope she continues to enjoy the use of her hip for many years! Contributed by medical 3Dprinting by materialise

Mayo Clinic Helps 11-Year-Old with Blount’s Disease by Using 3D Printing.

For 11-year-old Amarachi Austin-Okoh, running, jumping and even walking was a struggle. She suffered from a condition called Blount’s Disease, where the tibia, or shin bone, doesn’t grow properly, causing the legs to develop a bow shape. The disease had progressed so far in Amarachi’s case that even walking caused her great pain, and she explained that “It was very painful and hard, and, then, if people were walking a distance or something, I would start walking slower and slower, because it got harder and harder.” Her family had already noticed the condition when Amarachi was just two years old, but despite having a few corrective surgeries in Nigeria, where the Austin-Okoh family is originally from, her legs continued to worsen. The family approached Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to see if they could make a difference. The doctors at the Limb Lengthening and Regeneration Clinic knew they could help Amarachi if they took a team approach to the problem. By making full use of Mayo Clinic’s 3D Anatomic Modeling Lab, they were able to print out exact models of Amarachi’s leg bones to make crucial decisions prior to surgery. Dr. Todd Milbrandt, the surgeon who operated on Amarachi, was able to use the model to figure out where he would make a cut in the tibia, so that the bones could regrow and align properly. During the operation, he knew what to expect due to the pre-operative planning, and made a cut just below each knee. Dr. Andrew Sems then attached external braces (or “fixators”) to Amarachi’s legs after the operation and carefully adjusted them over the next three months according to computer calculations. By making adjustments to the fixators, Dr. Sems was able to gradually straighten the bones – basically by growing and correcting the bones at the same time. The outcome was everything Amarachi and her family could have hoped for – she gained almost 25cm in height and now walks with straight legs and no pain. She concluded, “I’m excited now, because it has opened a whole new horizon. I can do anything and everything I want to do.” Contributed by materialise