Xi'an doctors successfully implant 3D-printed prostheses

Doctors in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, have successfully implanted titanium prostheses made with 3D printing technology in clinical trials, China Daily learned on Thursday.

Guo Zheng, an orthopedics professor at Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University in the city, led his team to implant the 3D-printed titanium prostheses on March 27 and April 3 into three patients who suffered from bone tumors.

"The operations to implant the titanium prostheses into the patients repaired the bone defects in different body parts and solved the worldwide problem of individual reconstruction for bone loss after the removal of bone tumors from complex body parts," said Pei Guoxian, director of the orthopedics clinic of Xijing Hospital.

Guo said the diseased parts of the three patients were the pelvis, scapula and clavicle, which all needed to be removed as the tumors were cancerous.

Traditional standardized prostheses were unable to meet the requirements of different types of bone defect reconstruction and often failed because they did not match, Guo said.

The prostheses made with 3D sintering were used for the patients after careful study and discussion by experts and doctors and with the approval of the hospital ethics committee.

The patients have recovered satisfactory physical form and function some two months of postoperative treatment after the implant surgeries, Guo said.