3D Printers Being Used to Repair Damaged Human Skulls
Shelly Palmer
3D printing technology has helped replace 75% of a patient’s skull with the approval of U.S. regulators. The 3D-printed implant can replace the bone in people’s skulls damaged by disease or trauma, according to Oxford Performance Materials. The company announced it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its skull implant on Feb. 18 — a decision that led to the first U.S. surgical operation on March 4. “We see no part of the orthopedic industry being untouched by this,” said Scott DeFelice, president of Oxford Performance Materials. DeFelice’s company is already selling 3D-printed implants overseas as a contract manufacturer. But the FDA decision has opened the door for U.S. operations using the implants. 3D printing’s advantage comes from taking the digitally scanned model of a patient’s skull and “printing” out a matching 3D object layer by layer.
