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October 22, 2019One child's ear was completely rebuilt at the Meyer hospital in Florence thanks to 3D printing. The patient, a 13 year old, suffering from microtia, a rare congenital malformation that affects 5 out of 10,000 children.In the case of the 13 year old the damage is bilateral, and leads to an absence of development of the external ear.
In the intervention, Meyer explains, the exact shape of the cartilages of the child with which to reconstruct the ear was acquired by means of CT, then, thanks to a last generation software, a copy of the cartilages was printed in 3D. From this three-dimensional model it was possible to see at the millimeter the portion of cartilage to be taken. Furthermore, to define as accurately as possible what shape a "natural" ear of the child would have, a mother's ear was taken as a model. Numerous simulations made by surgeons before proceeding to the actual surgery in the operating room.
It is, Meyer emphasizes, of the first intervention in Italy that makes use of 3D technology and with the team of surgeons of the Florentine pediatric hospital, led by Dr. Flavio Facchini, in the hall were present some engineers of the T3Ddy laboratory, an excellence that was born from the meeting between Meyer and the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Florence which aims to apply highly innovative 3D technologies in clinical practice.