3D printed implants save three infants’ lives

Thanks to a 3D printed device, three babies who suffered from a major health condition, have received a new lease of life. The boys have become the first in the world to receive a 3D printed device implanted in the stents of their airways.

Conventional therapies for the condition are fraught with life threatening complications, which at times involves prolonged hospitalisation, often needing a trachestomy tube with a mechanical ventilation system. One of the risks in the procedure is cardiac and respiratory arrest.

No complications have been reported in the three children whose ages were three months, 16 months and five months when they were treated with the 3D printed growth flexible implants. Before the procedure was invented babies suffering from the condition  paediatric tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) had only a slim chance of survival. But now babies suffering from TBM would have a brighter future.

In TBM the airways collapse abnormally during breathing, which could to lead to life-threatening cardiopulmonary arrests (halted heart and breathing).

According to the study paper, the cartilage supporting the airway can strengthen with normal growth, though, severe cases of the disease warrrant aggressive treatment – with the children being at ''imminent risk of death.''

TBM is seen in one of every 2,200 children. Babies suffering from TBM need to be hospitalised for tracheostomy tube placement with mechanical ventilation in conventional treatment. Further the rate of respiratory arrest owing to tube occlusion is as high as 43 per cent of paediatric tracheostomy procedures a year.

The 3D printed stents afford flexibility with the airway growth while preventing external compression over a period of time.

The first few months are therefore, crucial for the survival of the three babies and if they can supported through first 24 to 36 months of tracheobronchomalacia, airway growth would see the condition resolve itself naturally.

''Before this procedure, babies with severe tracheobronchomalacia had little chance of surviving. Today, our first patient Kaiba is an active, healthy 3-year-old in preschool with a bright future. The device worked better than we could have ever imagined.

"We have been able to successfully replicate this procedure and have been watching patients closely to see whether the device is doing what it was intended to do. We found that this treatment continues to prove to be a promising option for children facing this life-threatening condition that has no cure,'' said Dr Glenn Green, associate professor of paediatric otolaryngology at C S Mott Children's Hospital and senior author of the study.