A photo from open sources Three quarters of all bones of the skull American patient were replaced in March during an unprecedented operations. Surgeons used an implant printed on 3D printer at Oxford Performance Materials (state) Connecticut). The new skull is made according to magnetic resonance tomography from semi-crystalline thermoplastics PEEK. 
Photos from open sources
Unlike previously used titanium, this material is lighter shape and reproduce anatomical features the patient. Polyaryletherketone has good biological compatibility, does not cause allergic reactions and does not injure own tissues at the points of contact. Prior to clinical practice PEEK has proven itself in technology as easy to handle material for the manufacture of parts of complex shape. Of it more and more often perform elements subjected to high mechanical stresses. Engineers had to adapt the 3D printing process of the EOS P800 to work with new polymer material. Every month only in the USA a similar operation is required in about four hundred patients. TO replacing bone fragments resort whenever they irreversibly destroyed as a result of trauma or tumor damage. In the near future, the company intends to consolidate its successful experience and offer clinics the service of producing bone fragments on order. “If you could replace the damaged bones of the brain skulls, then we’ll deal with others, ”notes the president of the company Scott Defilis. In this story, the speed of overcoming is also surprising. bureaucratic barriers. All necessary permissions from the FDA and other agencies under the Ministry of Health and Human Services The United States was received almost immediately – an unprecedented event. In part this was facilitated by previous clinical experience. At the time of filing polyaryletherketone has already been widely used in endoprosthetics and dentistry. 3D printing technology in medicine not used for the first year, but it was used primarily for modeling and tissue engineering. With such a combination of technology and the volume of surgical intervention by surgeons faced for the first time.
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