US baby's life saved with 3-D printed splint

US scientists have saved a 20-month-old toddler's life by helping him overcome a rare breathing disorder, using an innovative 3-D bio-printer to custom-make a splint that is holding his airway open.
Before the procedure, Kaiba, born with a rare condition that caused life-threatening problem, would stop breathing. His collapsed bronchus blocked the crucial flow of air to his lungs.
"Quite a few doctors said he had a good chance of not leaving the hospital alive. At that point, we were desperate. Anything that would work, we would take it and run with it," his mother April Gionfriddo said.
April and her husband Bryan found hope at the University of Michigan (UM), where a new, bioresorbable device that could help Kaiba was under development.

Glenn Green, associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology at the UM and Scott Hollister, professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at U-M obtained emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create and implant a tracheal splint for Kaiba made from a biopolymer called polycaprolactone.
On February 9, 2012, the specially-designed splint was placed in Kaiba at CS Mott Children's Hospital. The splint was sewn around Kaiba's airway to expand the bronchus and give it a skeleton to aid proper growth.

Over about three years, the splint will be reabsorbed by the body. The case featured in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"It was amazing. As soon as the splint was put in, the lungs started going up and down for the first time and we knew he was going to be OK," said Green.
Green and Hollister were able to make the custom-designed, custom-fabricated device using high-resolution imaging and computer-aided design.
The device was created directly from a CT scan of Kaiba's trachea/bronchus, integrating an image-based computer model with laser-based 3D printing to produce the splint.
Kaiba was off ventilator support 21 days after the procedure, and has not had breathing trouble since then.
"The material we used is a nice choice for this. It takes about two to three years for the trachea to remodel and grow into a healthy state, and that's about how long this material will take to dissolve into the body," says Hollister.

Severe tracheobronchomalacia is rare. About 1 in 2,200 babies are born with tracheomalacia and most children grow out of it by age 2 or 3, although it often is misdiagnosed as asthma that doesn't respond to treatment.
Before the device was placed, Kaiba continued to stop breathing on a regular basis and required resuscitation daily.
"Even with the best treatments available, he continued to have these episodes. He was imminently going to die. The physician treating him in Ohio knew there was no other option, other than our device in development here," Green said.