Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/354521
A DVA N C E S I N 3 - D pr i nt i ng demonstrate that the technol- ogy could be uniquely suited to the anomalous, rapidly changing nature of pediatric cases. As costs associated with 3-D printing decrease, developing custom products for growing patients may also become more cost-effective. Around the country, physicians are taking note. Many children have already benefited from models used for surgical preparation, precisely fitted implantables and low-cost prosthetics made possible with this technology. Two Tiny Futures Three-dimensional rendering played a key role in the successful separation of Tyler and Tyson Proctor, twins who were conjoined at the chest and shared a liver. Using data from a CT angiogram, Carolyn Cochenour, a research engi- neer with the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, created and printed a 3-D replica of the twins to help physicians understand the challenges they would face during separa- tion surgery. Cochenour took the process one step further, doing something she calls "LEGO-izing" the model. "That's the term we've come up with to describe making pieces so you can fit them together, take them apart and take the organs out, separating them in multiple ways," Cochenour explains. "This is a case where LEGO-izing really does help because you can see what you're going to have once you separate the twins." With the Proctor twins, traditional imaging failed to fully answer some questions, such as where their gallblad- ders were in relation to the midline. The 3-D rendering created an accurate model of the boys' biliary systems, allowing surgeons to make incisions without compromising either twin's system. Heart Matters In February, Erle Austin III, MD, a car- diothoracic surgeon with the University of Louisville Physicians, used 3-D model- ing to help plan a lifesaving surgery on 14-month-old Roland Lian Cung Bawi, who was born with several heart defects, including a hole in his heart and a double outlet right ventricle. It was a complex case, one for which Dr. Austin says he received conflicting advice about how to address. Children of a similar age with the same type and grade of heart defect are Powerful Impressions: 3-D Printing Takes on Pediatric Disorders FROM EXACT REPLICAS OF THE INFANT HEART TO ARTIFICIAL TRACHEAS THAT A GROWING BODY CAN ABSORB, PEDIATRIC APPLICATIONS OF 3-D PRINTING ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF CUSTOMIZABLE MEDICINE FOR CHILDREN. SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: PEDIATRICS By Valerie Lauer 1 4 | Minnesota MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M