Mitigation of tracheobronchomalacia with 3D-printed personalized medical devices in pediatric patients

Sci Transl Med 29 April 2015: 
Vol. 7, Issue 285, p. 285ra64 
Sci. Transl. Med. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3010825

• RESEARCH ARTICLE

BIOENGINEERING

Mitigation of tracheobronchomalacia with 3D-printed personalized medical devices in pediatric patients

1. Robert J. Morrison1, 
2. Scott J. Hollister2, 
3. Matthew F. Niedner3, 
4. Maryam Ghadimi Mahani4, 
5. Albert H. Park5,
6. Deepak K. Mehta6, 
7. Richard G. Ohye7 and 
8. Glenn E. Green8,*

+Author Affiliations

1. ¹Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
2. ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
3. ³Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
4. ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
5. ⁵Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA.
6. ⁶Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, USA.
7. ⁷Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
8. ⁸Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

1. ↵*Corresponding author. E-mail: gegreen@med.umich.edu

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers the potential for rapid customization of medical devices. The advent of 3D-printable biomaterials has created the potential for device control in the fourth dimension: 3D-printed objects that exhibit a designed shape change under tissue growth and resorption conditions over time. Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) is a condition of excessive collapse of the airways during respiration that can lead to life-threatening cardiopulmonary arrests. We demonstrate the successful application of 3D printing technology to produce a personalized medical device for treatment of TBM, designed to accommodate airway growth while preventing external compression over a predetermined time period before bioresorption. We implanted patient-specific 3D-printed external airway splints in three infants with severe TBM. At the time of publication, these infants no longer exhibited life-threatening airway disease and had demonstrated resolution of both pulmonary and extrapulmonary complications of their TBM. Long-term data show continued growth of the primary airways. This process has broad application for medical manufacturing of patient-specific 3D-printed devices that adjust to tissue growth through designed mechanical and degradation behaviors over time.

• Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Citation: R. J. Morrison, S. J. Hollister, M. F. Niedner, M. G. Mahani, A. H. Park, D. K. Mehta, R. G. Ohye, G. E. Green, Mitigation of tracheobronchomalacia with 3D-printed personalized medical devices in pediatric patients. Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 285ra64 (2015).

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