Mitigation of tracheobronchomalacia with 3D-printed personalized medical devices in pediatric patients.

ABSTRACT: Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers the potential for rapid customization of medical devices. The advent of 3D-printable biomaterials has created the potential for device control in the fourth dimension: 3D-printed objects that exhibit a designed shape change under tissue growth and resorption conditions over time. Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) is a condition of excessive collapse of the airways during respiration that can lead to life-threatening cardiopulmonary arrests. We demonstrate the successful application of 3D printing technology to produce a personalized medical device for treatment of TBM, designed to accommodate airway growth while preventing external compression over a predetermined time period before bioresorption. We implanted patient-specific 3D-printed external airway spl

SUBMITTER: Morrison RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4495899 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature