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World first as 3D printer creates JAW for woman, 83

Next time you get angry when your printer runs out of ink, spare a thought for the scientists in Belgium printing something altogether more interesting than a couple of document pages.

Specialist metal parts manufacturer LayerWise has used innovative 3D printing technology to create a lower jaw, which was then transplanted on an 83-year-old woman in what is believed to be the first operation of its kind.


The extraordinary development shows just how advanced 3D printing has come and throws a spotlight on a little known but rapidly growing process.

3D printing works by taking a digital design, which is then built up inside a machine layer by layer, normally using powder, plaster or resins.

Used with increasing regularity in the medical industry, 3D printers are also proving popular within car and aerospace manufacturing as well as for jewellery and even footwear.

UK scientists at the University of Exeter have even been working on a machine that prints 3D chocolate shapes.

The jaw transplant took place back in June 2011 in Holland and was used to rectify the problems caused by chronic bone infection Osteomyelitis.

It saw LayerWise work with Belgian university scholars and medical professionals to create the transplant piece to the exact specifications needed for the elderly patient.

Made from titanium powder, it took just a few hours for high precision lasers to heat and combine the powdered layers, which are then left to harden.

The complex implant features joints and cavities to encourage muscles and nerves to attach and grow around it.

Prof Dr Jules Poukens, from Hasselt University in Belgium, was in charge of the surgery.

He said: 'The new treatment method is a world premiere because it concerns the first patient-specific implant in replacement of the entire lower jaw.

'Shortly after waking up from the anesthetics, the patient spoke a few words and the day after, the patient was able to speak and swallow normally again.'

Dr Peter Mercelis, managing director of LayerWise, explained the technology speeds up surgery and patient recovery times while also reducing the risk of complications.

He added: 'Besides a successful track record in industrial sectors, metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) is gaining importance in medical implantology.

'AM's freedom of shape allows the most complex freeform geometers to be produced as a single part prior to surgery.

'As illustrated by the lower jaw reconstruction, patient-specific implants can potentially be applied on a much wider scale than transplantation of human bone structures and soft tissue.'

UK companies are also embracing 3D printing technology.

At London-based MakieLab, they are set to launch an app in April allowing anyone to create and design an avatar that will then be turned into an action figure through 3D printing.

CEO Alice Taylor believes 3D printing offers the company a new innovative way of working, producing toys that are British made, without the waste and environmental impact of mass production.

She told Yahoo! News UK: 'Traditionally toys are mass produced in the Far East and can take years from prototype to market. Manufacturers also have to guess how many they will sell.

'This technology allows us to make personalised toys locally, individually tailored from our designs or those of the user, wherever in the world there is a similar 3D printer.

'Our 3D doll and action figure builder app can see a product received by the customer within two to three weeks. The customer gets the product they made and we only make what is ordered, saving wastage in time and money.'

Geoff McCormick of TheAlloy, a product and user experience design consultancy, based in Surrey, believes 3D printing will change the face of manufacturing – eventually allowing it to be done at home.

He said: '3D printing already plays a major today in the development process of new products – we use it to test and prototype products more quickly. It means we can create a prototype without having to go to the time and expense we used to, creating, tooling, etc.

'Formula 1 teams are taking this further today and using it as a production method for parts and components. This hints at where this technology could go – it has the potential to mean that anyone with a 3D printer can design and make their own products – shoes, clothes, furniture, ideally created to suit their needs.

'What this enables is a potential change in society - we all become producers of our own good and services as well as consumers. This could redefine economic activity as people become part of the production process.'