3D Printing is fast becoming the go-to method to be used to study structures in healthcare. It is widely used to study the structure of the affected parts and to pre-plan subsequent surgeries leading to faster surgeries, lesser blood loss and better success rates.
A team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar recently used the technology to understand the facial bone growth of a 13-year old girl who was suffering from a rare disorder called ‘Cherubism’.
The team of doctors successfully restored the vision of the teenager from Padmapur region of Keonjhar in Odisha suffering from the rare eyesight disorder.
The girl, Bibhabari Samal, was living with a rare auto-inflammatory disorder (Cherubism) for more than five years. She suffered gradual impairment of eyesight due to unusual swelling of her face.
She continued to suffer till 2017 while her parents initially thought it was a case of inflammation. However, one day her left eye popped out one morning when she was cleaning her face. Seeing more threat to her eyes, her families rushed her to some private hospitals at Cuttack where CT scan and others tests were conducted and she was operated upon. However, this yielded no good result.
The family then consulted the doctors at AIIMS with a new hope. A panel of doctors from different disciplines decided to operate on her. However, with the expertise of doctors at AIIMS and multi-sectoral approach, the condition of the girl improved a lot and she was finally able to get back normal vision.
As per the media statement released by AIIMS Bhubaneswar doctors, “A surgery will be conducted by a team of doctors comprising maxillofacial and eye surgeons besides a neurosurgeon. A 3D structure of her face has been created by 3D printing technology which revealed that bone growth is seen almost encroaching upon the nerve of the eyeball on left side and bilateral orbits.”
At present, the girl is attending her school and leading a normal life. She is under regular follow-up at the AIIMS.
This is the first-of-its-kind of operation conducted at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar by the team of doctors comprising of Dr. Mounabati Mohapatra, Prof and HOD, Department of Dentistry, Dr. Kiran Kumar Boyina, Department of Trauma and Emergency, AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Dr. Bhagabat Nayak, Department of Ophthalmology and residents of respective departments.
Healthcare is seeing a rapid change in how surgeries and operations are planned and executed. The impact of 3D printing on the healthcare sector is huge and in a country like India, it makes even more positive influence.
News Source: Orissa Post
