Additive manufacturing has always crossed the boundaries in a positive way in the healthcare space.
doctors can see the options available in 3D printing ,A UK man-made medical history on Thursday when he became the first patient ever to receive a 3D-printed eyeball as part of a groundbreaking new experiment.
“This new eye looks wonderful, and because it is based on 3D digital printing technology,
it will only get better and better,” London resident Steve Verze said of the operation to the Daily Mail.
The Cutting-edge technology is currently being utilized to reproduce everything from steaks to entire towns.
The engineer, who is in his 40s, is said to have lost his left eye while he was in his 20s and has relied on prosthetic eyes ever since.
Verze, on the other hand, was self-conscious about the fake orbs, saying, “When I leave my house, I often take a second peek in the mirror, and I don’t like what I see.”
As a result, he chose to have one 3D-printed at Moorfields Eye Hospital,
which is offering patients state-of-the-art eyeballs as part of a clinical trial aimed at speeding up the peeper replacement process while also making it more lifelike.
The patient’s replica retina, which appears to be indistinguishable from the actual one as if digitally implanted using CGI, is seen in the accompanying photographs.
Despite the fact that the synthetic sight organ will not restore Verze’s vision, he hopes it will restore his confidence.
Professor Mandeep Sagoo, a consultant opthalmologist at Moorfields, said,
“We hope the upcoming clinical trial will provide us with robust evidence about the value
of this new technology, showing what a difference it makes for patients.”
3D printed parts reducing wait-time
Patients presently have to wait six weeks for a new eye, after which they must undergo surgery, many appointments,
and a four-to-five month wait for a prosthetic to be fitted.
According to the Daily Mail, specialists at Moorfields Eye Hospital estimate that the 3D-printed option will take only three weeks.
The patient just has their empty socket scanned so that doctors can use software to create a map of the area.
They scan the good eye to make sure it matches, then transmit the blueprint to Germany,
where the synthetic stargazer is 3D-printed in under two hours.
The completed product is then returned to the hospital and fitted to the patient.
“We’re really enthusiastic about the possibilities of this fully digital prosthetic eye,” Sagoo exclaimed.
3D printing is transforming medicine in more ways than one, including the creation of cutting-edge ocular prostheses. Israeli researchers made medical history in August
when they 3D-printed models of brain cancer patients’ tumours to test
the efficacy of prospective treatments before using them on real individuals.
Source: NYPost
