3D-printing offers hope for cure

Using the latest 3D-printing technology, the first 3D lung model in China is produced in the People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province. [Photo/news.163.com]

The People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province has recently printed the first 3D lung model in China, which was used to successfully operate on a patient with an early stage of lung cancer in an accurate pulmonary segment resection surgery.

According to Chen Liang, chief physician at the thoracic surgery department, the hospital used CT scan data of a patient with lung disease to create a 3D virtual model for doctors to determine the accurate location for surgery. But, for complex lung surgeries, the virtual model has its limits.

Medical science indicates there are five lobes and 18 bronchopulmonary segments in the lung. Doctors had to remove the lesions accurately because if they cut the wrong bronchus, the lung would have lost its function; and if they cut the wrong vein, hemoptysis could have occurred.

"The 3D model has replicated the blood vessel and trachea in the patient's lung. It helps doctors to accurately locate the surgical parts and minimize injuries in lung resections," Chen explained. He stressed that the 3D lung model helps cut the operation time by half compared to surgeries done before.

Edited by Mevlut Katik