Professors save life using object from 3D printer
By RACHEL PREMACK, Daily Staff Reporter
Published October 29, 2013
michigandaily.com
Excerpt:
Green and Holister’s invention helped 2-year-old Kaiba Gionfriddo, who, at a very early age, faced great difficulty breathing. Six weeks after his birth, his parents discovered he had trouble eating. Two months later, a tube was inserted in his trachea to prevent chest contractions and other cardiopulmonary reactions.
The Youngstown, Ohio resident was born with tracheobronchomalacia, a rare condition where the windpipe’s tissue is so soft it can collapse over time. Kaiba’s case was especially severe; a tracheostomy — a tube that’s inserted into a patient’s windpipe and exits outside of the neck — and other common treatments were not helping.
Green and Hollister had already formed a partnership in experimenting with new solutions to tracheobronchomalacia. A call from a surgeon from Akron Children’s Hospital to University Hospital provided the chance to use the experimental device.
The splint that saved Kaiba’s life is about the size of a thimble. It’s made from a biodegradable material that will dissolve in his trachea in two years according to Hassan Nasser, a medical student who researches in Green’s lab. The splint gives Kaiba’s tracheal tissue additional time to strengthen; his windpipe will be strong enough in two years to function when the splint dissolves.
“Kids still have the ability to grow and develop their own cartilage,” Nasser said. “The splint buys him a couple years for his own cartilage to grow.” |
