[Kok! Health] Sunken Facial Area, Making 'Artificial Bone' with 3D Printer?

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[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Domestic medical staff have succeeded in implanting artificial bones using 3D printers.

According to the medical community on the 29th, Professor Hojin Park of Korea University Anam Hospital recently succeeded in implanting artificial bones using 3D printers. This became possible by utilizing 3D printing technology to artificially manufacture the bone tissue needed for the patient and then customizing the shape according to the patient.

Facial bones and the skull play important functional and aesthetic roles. Facial bones are functionally important when chewing food or breathing. The skull also protects our brain and determines the shape of the forehead and back of the head. Facial bones and the skull can be damaged by trauma such as traffic accidents or falls, and sometimes must be resected due to cancer or inflammation treatment. Damaged facial bones and the skull must be restored for functional and cosmetic purposes.

Previously, reconstruction was done using titanium metal plates or autologous bone harvested from the patient's pelvis, calf bone, or normal skull. However, titanium metal plates often caused complications such as inflammation. Even when autologous bone was harvested, defects occurred at the donor site, limiting its use if the defect area was large. Moreover, since facial bones and the skull differ in shape from person to person, there were limitations in reconstruction.

Professor Park explained that to create patient-customized artificial bones, it is first necessary to identify the bone defect area. Then, computer simulation is used to virtually recreate the shape of the facial bones and skull before the defect. The patient-customized artificial bones produced in this way can reconstruct extensive defects in the head and facial areas. They can also treat conditions such as enophthalmos, facial asymmetry, facial bone hypoplasia, skull asymmetry, skull depression, and skull defects.

Professor Park said, "Reconstruction using patient-customized artificial bones is an advanced technology that requires extensive experience in simulation and artificial bone manufacturing, enabling ideal reconstruction of facial bones and the skull," adding, "To minimize postoperative complications, appropriate preoperative examinations must be conducted, and it is important to seek medical staff with ample experience."

Photo by Korea University Anam Hospital