Medical science is always advancing and forever amazing us with those advances.
This is an absolutely enormous achievement for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rijeka, who, along with the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic at Rijeka hospital, successfully completed a complicated operation by attaching a 3D-printed ear to a patient on February 20, 2016.
The patient who received the remarkable 3D ear is an elderly man who unfortunately lost part of his ear to skin cancer, due to the size and location of the cancerous tumours that were found in his ear, doctors were left with no other choice than to cut parts of the ear off. Ground-breaking technological advances in the world of medicine meant that he was able to get his ear reconstructed with the help of 3D printing technology.
Dr. Dubravko Manestar, the surgeon who carried out the operation, stated that after the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma, which sadly covered most of the right ear, the patient had the most heavily affected part of the ear removed under local anesthesia.
“After approximately one month when the cut grew over, we opted for this type of operation, which was carried out in a team with Dr. Komljenović. Under local anesthesia we installed the 3D-printed part to the missing area of the right ear. The mould was made with accurate measurements and then a number of models were printed so the most similar to the existing part of the ear could be used” said Dr. Manestar.
The 3D part of the ear was attached with adhesive at the lower and upper part, whilst the middle is flat and free to allow proper function of the ear canal.
“These types of operations are very important in cancer patients, especially those who are elderly and are not able to undergo long-constructive surgery under anaesthesia. This type of operation makes for an aesthetically acceptable solution, which is also important for the socialization of patients” Dr. Manestar concluded.
The amazing 3D ear is made from biocompatible silicone and was modeled Sven Maricic together with Sanjin Fuck and Duje Kalajzic. The 3D printer was purchased as part of a university development for research infrastructure project at the University of Rijeka, which was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. CT radiological control was carried out by Damir Miletic together with Antonija Ruzic Barsic, whilst the ear was carefully coloured to match the skin by Marijan Pozar.
Hooray for science!
