Samsung Medical Centre makes headway in 3D printed liver for babies

Located in Seoul Korea, the Samsung medical centre has custom made additive manufacturing for a faster and safer liver transplant for newly delivered babies

whose bodies are too small to receive an adult liver.

the hospital presented its additive manufacturing technology to produce

the abdominal cavity receiver to enable easier accessible and affordable transplant

during the 40th Asian Transpalnatation week 2021 hosted by the Korean society for

transplantation back in October.

The abdominal cavity model was 3D modelled and printed to test whether

the carefully designed liver graft fit the recipient’s small body,

and this enabled surgical planning and procedures,

most especially in the prevention of large for size syndrome.

Reduced completion time

it took a total of 9 hours from modelling to completion,
decreasing the production period by one fifth when compared to

previously published studies,

The centre’s pediatric transplant team added.
The reduced time helps to decrease the risks in an emergency liver

transplant involving a small-sized baby recipient from a brain dead donor.

In a real operation, the team was able to 3D print a liver graft from the donor at the specific size

for a baby aged four months and weighed 7KG under the 3D printed model.

“additive manufacturing usually takes a while to manufacture,

so it was thought to be less cost-effective, but the technology designed by

the team of researchers allows surgeons to see the result on the same day, which greatly helps

when planning complicated operations such as liver transplantation, said Professor Choi Gyu-Seong.
With the use of its 3D printing technology,

the Samsung medical centre has performed 14 pediatric liver transplants successfully.

Additive manufacturing opens up a new avenue fo

r medicine and other industries, with the cost-effectiveness and flexibility of the technology,

innovations are achieved in a precise manner that helps

further the growth of the said industry.

Source:Pulsenews, Samsung