At a glance

In 2002 CT and MRI data was used to 3-D print anatomical models of conjoined twins from Egypt in the United States, to plan for the separation surgery. The surgery succeeded in 2003, and the twins lived six years.

In 2011, researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands created and implanted an entire 3-D printed lower jaw (pictured above) for an 83-year-old woman. It was the world's first complete 3-D printed implant.

In 2012, specialists in the US created an airway device with a 3-D laser printer with approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, and saved a baby boy, whose birth defect had caused his throat's airway to collapse frequently.