China / Society

3D print tech involved in Beijing axis surgery

(CRIENGLISH.com) Updated: 2014-08-19 13:13

A hospital in Beijing has finished the world's first axis surgery on a boy using a 3D-printed titanium alloy replacement.

12-year-old Ming Hao was diagnosed with a bone tumor called Ewing sarcoma on his cervical vertebra, mainly on the axis.

The tumour-eroded part of the axis had to be replaced, a procedure that is much more risky without 3D printing technology.

The printed replacement was inserted during a 5-hour operation.

Ming Hao apparently is already able to stand, with some support, just days after the surgery.

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