The Future is Here: Man Gets 75 Pct of Skull Replaced by 3-D Printed Implant

It's 2013, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was perhaps 2030 after a man made headlines this week after becoming the first person to have 75 percent of his skull replaced with made-to-fit pieces that were 3D printed.

Gizmodo reports that the unnamed man first had his skull scanned digitally using a 3D scanner and a digital replica of the skull replacement was created. A replacement prosthetic plate for his skull was then printed out using a 3D printer.

The full name of the implant is the OsteoFab Patient Specific Cranial Device. The implant is made from PEKK biomedical polymer and printed using CAD files in order to uniquely fit each person's specific proportions. Oxford Performance Materials (OPM), the Connecticut company that created the implant received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its OsteoFab^TM Patient Specific Cranial Device (OPSCD) before the printed replacement was inserted in the patient's skull.

"It is our firm belief that the combination of PEKK and Additive Manufacturing (our OsteoFab technology) is a highly transformative and disruptive technology platform that will substantially impact all sectors of the orthopedic industry," said Scott DeFelice, President and CEO of Oxford Performance Materials.

DeFelice's company is already selling 3D-printed implants overseas as a contract manufacturer. This is the first time that it's been made available in the U.S.

3D printing's advantage comes from taking the digitally scanned model of a patient's skull and "printing" out a matching 3D object layer by layer. The precise manufacturing technique can even make tiny surface or edge details on the replacement part that encourage the growth of cells and allow bone to attach more easily.

DeFelice told TechNewsDaily that he believes the OsteoFab Patient Specific Cranial Device will soon be able to make 3D-printed bone replacements for all parts of the human body. He said the company is already in the process of submitting other 3D-printed bone parts for FDA approval - a huge market worth as much as $50 million to $100 million for each bone replacement type.

"If you can replace a bony void in someone's head next to the brain, you have a pretty good platform for filling bony voids elsewhere," DeFelice said.