3D printing a 'heart' 9-year-old boy regained his life

Recently, Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital completed a special complicated congenital heart disease operation. With the help of 3D printing technology, the 9-year-old boy's Chaochao (pseudonym) "battered" heart beats healthy again. Chaochao, born in 2012, was a child with congenital heart disease. He had undergone double-outlet correction of the right ventricle when he was 3 months old, and he grew up as healthy as a normal child. However, this hard-won happiness came to an abrupt end because of the recurrence of the Chaochao.

According to Chaochao’s mother, in the past month, the child suffered chest pains as long as he moved a little bit and could not travel far. I came to Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital for further examination and found that Chaochao had left ventricular outflow tract stenosis, pulmonary valve and subvalvular outflow tract stenosis, and mild aortic valve regurgitation. The doctor recommended surgery as soon as possible.

Considering that Chaochao is young, the internal structure of the heart is complicated and accompanied by multiple malformations, the Congenital Heart Disease Center of Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital has decided to use the most advanced 3D printing technology to restore the Chaochao heart 1:1 and conduct a “field investigation”.

“The specific method is to first collect the Chaochao related image data in advance, and then use the software to repeatedly 3D modeling, and finally print Chaochao heart model.” According to Zhang Gangcheng, director of the Congenital Heart Disease Center of Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital, the model is clearly reproduced After studying the fine structure of the child’s heart, after repeated research on the model, the key steps of the operation were determined and a scientific operation plan was developed.

On November 5, Chaochao successfully performed left ventricular outflow tract dredging and pulmonary artery reconstruction. He has been transferred to the general ward and is recovering well. This is the first cardiac surgery performed by Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital under the guidance of 3D printing technology.

At present, the color multi-material 3D printer introduced by Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital can provide assistance in various fields, creating patient-specific cardiovascular models on demand, effectively optimizing surgical plans and reducing surgical risks. In addition to complex congenital heart disease, 3D printing technology can also be used in valve diseases, macrovascular diseases, heart transplantation, arrhythmia, etc., and more patients will benefit from it in the future.