3D Printing Transforming Face Transplants

The 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, technology has been inserted in several medicine areas, where, in special, face transplants have been profiting a lot from this insert. Because this technology leads us to the new reality of customization, it is possible to reproduce unique forms and sizes. This factor has been enabled medicine to improve face transplants, and to provide people hope and a new perspective of life. 

3D printed model used in planning
a face transplant surgery.
Credits: Radiological Society of North America

Most part of people that need this kind of procedure had been through surgeries as an attempt to recover at least part of their faces and, sometimes, even body functions like eating, breathing and talking. In the article "3D Printing Can Improve Face Transplants", the author Tia Ghose emphasizes that, at the moment of the transplant, the person's face may have plates, screws, bone grafts and a lot of other small modifications, and that is mandatory that the new face fit perfectly around all these parts. Furthermore, according to doctor Rybicki, with 3D printing, his team can discern where these elements are, and, consequently, the surgeries tend to go more smoothly and quickly.

A famous case is about a woman called Carmen Tartelon, whose, according to Dana Dovey in the article "3D Printers Give Face Transplant Patients A Dramatic Transformation And Improved Quality Of Life", estranged husband broke into her house and, with a baseball bat, beat her. In addition, he also threw an industrial strength lye on her, that burnt the skin and the muscles of her face in a way that what she had left was just a little bit more than her skull. In her case, it was necessary to print soft tissues, what is extremely difficult to visualize, and printing them requires a sophisticated technique, and that is why 3D printing was so useful.

Carmen Tartelon after face transplant
CBS screenshot

Besides helping surgeons with face transplants, it can also help them with other facial reconstructions. For example, when the patient's jaw need to be reconstructed, usually a piece of rib or leg bone is removed to restore the jaw, but using 3D printing it is possible to make this cut more precisely. Furthermore, doctors are also having the opportunity to get the necessary bone from another region, from the femur or from the thigh, because, different from the rib, they have their own bloody supply, and for that reason there is no risk of collapse. 

The improvement provided by the 3D printing technology is just one thing that we can profit from it. As pointed out above, it is also possible to create different and better alternatives with the models that can be printed. Nowadays, it is still considered as an expensive technology, it really is. However, the current accessibility, that we have, has been showing us the benefits of it. I think that, as the author of  "3D printing: 10 factors still holding it back", Lyndsey Gilpin, emphasizes, the usability of this technology to customize 

3D Printer
Credits: digitaltrends.com

smartphone cases, or other personal items will not help to expand it. It is not something really necessary in our lives, however, the 3D printing being used in the medicine field is a common interest for the whole population. What if we start using it to improve security systems or other medical procedures? I do not know specifically how, but it is possible and I am pretty sure that would change people's perception about it. Furthermore, the price would not be considered a big problem, in the case of a hospital, for example, it is not necessary one 3D printer for each patient, because one equipment could be useful for several areas. In conclusion, the overall usefulness of this technology should be focused on before anything else.



Sources:

- Ghose, T. (2014). 3D Printing Can Improve Face Transplants. LiveScience.
Retrieved from: http://www.livescience.com/48950-3d-printing-face-transplants-models.html

- Dovey, D. (2014). 3D Printers Give Face Transplant Patients A Dramatic Transformation And Improved Quality Of Life. Innovation.
Retrieved from: http: //www.medicaldaily.com/3d-printers-give-face-transplant-patients-dramatic-transformation-and-improved-313124

- Gilpin, L. (2014). 3D printing: 10 factors still holding it back. TechRepublic.
Retrieved from: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/3d-printing-10-factors-still-holding-it-back/#.

- Fleming, M. (2014). What is 3D Printing? An Overview. 3DPrinter.
Retrieved from: http://www.3dprinter.net/reference/what-is-3d-printing