3D-Printed Airways Continue to Save Lives

Previously, Medical Design Briefs reported on a baby boy whose life was saved using a custom 3D-printed tracheal splint, a groundbreaking procedure pioneered at the University of Michigan. He is now nearly four years old. Since that time, a 14-year-old girl has now joined the list of three baby boys and one baby girl who’ve received novel 3D-printed tracheal splints to treat a congenital breathing condition called tracheobronchomalasia (TBM), which causes tracheal walls to collapse. All five are alive and thriving, thanks to the technology and the surgical procedures that helped their collapsed airways function normally.