75% Of Man's Skull Replaced By 3D Printed Material

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Who would have imagined that we would ever be using 3D printing to replace large portions of a man's skull? :eek:

A man has had 75 per cent of his skull replaced with a custom-made 3D-printed implant. The un-named patient in the United States had his head imaged by a 3D scanner before the plastic prosthetic was crafted to suit his features.
 
I like the idea of the holes in it, so that you can poke flowers in, for flower arrangement purposes.:eek:
 
3D Printing has been used in maxillofacial surgery for many years. Gnarly but cool nonetheless.
 
That's awesome. It could revolutionise brain surgery and the treatment of head injuries.
 
Yeah, it's not new. Maybe the bigger story is that it's accessible to more patients now.

I remember watching older footage of surgery involving reconstruction and implants, and much of the outcome depended on the artistic skill of the surgeons. An off the shelf implant would need to be reshaped during surgery with several test fittings. And bony repairs involved manipulating bone graft material when it was still flexible.
 
Amazing? Absolutely. I would be rather uncomfortable knowing my brain was sitting in that though :p.
 
So they're replacing all but the tanned, holey portion or 75% OF THE TOP of his skull?
(yes, I'm anal, DEAL WITH IT)
 
To all these people afraid of plastic printed guns and crap: See? 3D printing is used for GOOD things. Just like with the little girl that has the "magic arms" that were made with 3D printing (story was also here on the [H]).
 
I still don't think people realize how revolutionary 3D printing is going to be to numerous industries yet. Problem is a lot of speculators do and it is going to cause a bubble. But when all is said and done, it will change the face of the planet forever in short order.
 
I still don't think people realize how revolutionary 3D printing is going to be to numerous industries yet. Problem is a lot of speculators do and it is going to cause a bubble. But when all is said and done, it will change the face of the planet forever in short order.

I imagine that my future kids will be able to go into a toy store and create the action figure of their dreams, then watch it be built in one of these 3d printers right in front of their eyes.

Super-Hi-Tech Build-a-Bear
 
So they're replacing all but the tanned, holey portion or 75% OF THE TOP of his skull?
(yes, I'm anal, DEAL WITH IT)

Yup, came to post the same thing.

I don't think it's 75% - I'd like to know how they could POSSIBLY replace 75%.
 
What amount of toxicity transfer will there be?

"What happened to him?"

"Brain poisoning."
 
My own brother has had 2 large bone-flaps replaced in his skull, each the size and area of the average adult male's human hand. This was a double craniotomy necessary to relieve pressure off the brain (huge traumatic brain injury in april 2009, but he has exceeded all expectations in recovery).

Back in December of 2012 he had to have 1 side re-constructed out of titanium mesh (because he had the original bone replaced on that side, and it was resorbed - Some "mounting hardware" was also protruding, nearly popping out of the skin). The titanium mesh was chosen over PEEK or PEKK plastic, seen in this article. The reconstruction went well. I think he improved another 5% - and aesthetically it looks great. I was impressed.

Of the surgeons we consulted, most were more comfortable with the titanium mesh due to thermal concerns. The studies on PEEK are pretty good - showing performance about equal to the titanium mesh really. Still - it would not have been even partially covered under insurance (and the cost is MUCH higher), our surgeons didn't really want to use it, it would have taken longer to have it custom made (which involved some 3D scanning - so MAYBE my brother could have been a subject of this type of article had we gone that route), and the situation was urgent.

Oh - you guys were wondering how much of a skull could be replaced. A lot of it. I don't know anyone with more replaced than my own brother, however. Those pics in the article look amazing because I don't even see any mounting hardware. I'm not sure how the materials are attached - titanium meshes may use similar cements, but also tiny screws. The material itself uses about the same surface-pattern as the titanium mesh, which can also be seen on the CT-scans.
 
Meh... Give me a high UV proof glass dome and trim the scalp.
Wonder if the plastic is BPA free.
 
Waiting for working 3D brain.

There is plenty of people I can think of which will benefit... politicians, lawyers, religious zealots
 
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