A 22-year-old woman in the Netherlands has had her skull replaced by a three dimensional plastic printed transplant.
A 22 year old woman in the Netherlands has had her skull replaced by a three dimensional plastic printed transplant.
The medical procedure reportedly saved her life, as the woman was living with a rare illness that caused her skull bone to thicken over time, which would have eventually been fatal from putting too much pressure on her brain.
This is the first time that doctors have done this specific kind of operation, which replaced the woman’s entire cranium with the 3D printed plastic one.
Previous operations have only replaced parts of people’s skulls with 3D printed plastic implants.
Ben Verweij, who led the operation is quoted as saying: “Implants used to be made by hand in the operating theatre using a sort of cement which was far from ideal. Using 3D printing we can make one to the exact size. This not only has great cosmetic advantages, but patients’ brain function often recovers better than using the old method.”
It has now been several months since the operation took place and the hospital has said that the woman has fully recovered and is back at work, with hardly any noticeable evidence that she has undergone a medical procedure.
