One of the several tragedies of global conflict is those permanently maimed by explosions and weapons fire. One UK soldier, shot “above and through the knee”, has been unable to recover despite several reconstructive surgeries. But now there’s new hope through the use of advanced 3D scanning, 3D printing and new surgical techniques.
Professor Justin Cobb, Chair of Orthopaedic surgery at the Imperial College Healthcare in London’s Charing Cross Hospital is developing new techniques to use new 3D tech on this very problem.
The new process involves detailed 3D scans of the affected area and “offline” 3D development of replacement parts and more importantly “cutting guides” that vastly simplify the actual surgery. The replacement parts are printed for use in a relatively quick “installation”.
At this point the researchers are still developing the process through a series of careful experiments. There’s much more at the article below.
Via Ops-UK
