Infant heart surgery is one of the most demanding medical specialties, dealing with delicate structures such as the tiny hearts of newborns. A newborn's heart, weighing only 20 grams, can fit in the palm of a hand, and operating on such a small heart is medically challenging.
．Challenging Situations
When a heart has a single abnormality or a common condition, most doctors can rely on their experience or standard methods like CT scans and MRIs to visualize the abnormality. The real challenge arises when the heart is tiny, and the condition is rare or differs from other typical cases; a difference of less than a millimeter can be a matter of life or death. To increase survival rates, surgeons need to understand the situation as thoroughly as possible to decide whether to operate, and if so, how to perform the surgery in the best possible way.
In one such case, a 3-week-old Polish infant named Kordian suffered from "traumatic aortic dissection." In this disorder, the aorta, the body's largest artery, is torn or ruptured, a condition that is often fatal. For Kordian, his life was also at risk; doctors and Kordian's mother, who had no understanding of the disease, had to quickly decide whether to proceed with this surgery.
．Solution
3D printing has become the best method for this problem, allowing cardiologists to print each heart and closely observe abnormalities. They can even simulate surgery before the actual operation. While common FDM printers suffice for everyday use, doctors need a model that doesn't require support materials during printing to avoid errors. They need to replicate every tiny vein and artery around the heart precisely. Since SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printing requires no support structures even for complex details, SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printed models can be used for planning heart surgery and during the surgical procedure, especially in rare congenital heart diseases where complexity varies from patient to patient.
SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printed medical models help plan surgeries, making them safer, easier, and quicker. Doctors use 3D printed hearts to practice operations, effectively improving surgical success rates and giving patients a better quality of life.
Surgeons decided to print Kordian's heart to plan the surgery. With the SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printed model, the condition of the tiny heart was clearly visible; this helped prepare for the complex surgery, allowing them to connect the ruptured fragments of the aorta. Seeing the model made it easier for Kordian's mother to understand how severe his condition was and how the surgery would proceed. This made her realize the necessity of the surgery much more clearly than just seeing the defects on a screen.
Kordian is now 18 months old, and his happy face and vitality when facing strangers show no trace of the fact that this boy almost didn't survive a year ago.
．Key Assistance Provided by SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D Printing in this Medical Case:
．3D printing a 1:1 heart model of a newborn with complete anatomical structures (such as veins, tracheas, or arteries), which is the most distinctive advantage of SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printing.
．Helping students understand heart diseases in the most intuitive way, plan, and simulate actual surgeries, thereby increasing surgical success rates.
．Assisting in explaining heart conditions to parents or relatives who do not have a professional medical background.
We are delighted that modern technology continues to advance, giving this tiny life a chance for a new beginning. Through the continuous innovation and integration of SLS Sinterit Lisa 3D printing technology into more diverse fields, 3D printing is bound to cross into more application areas in the future. To learn more about 3D printing, you can refer to other articles on our website, or a straightforward explanation of key points that even beginners can understand. If you have a need for prototype creation, we also offer high-quality printing services.
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Original link: https://www.sinterit.com/use-case/how-to-save-a-tiny-life/