Hello, the first reabsorbable 3D prosthesis in Europe has been implanted at Meyer Florence

There have already been 4 adolescents successfully operated on by the pediatric surgery team of the Irccs Aou Meyer in Florence using 3D printed prostheses in completely absorbable material, designed by the T3Ddy laboratory. All 4 patients had a malformation of the rib cage called 'pectus excavatum'. It is a depression of the anterior chest wall which, although in most cases does not lead to functional disorders, is experienced by those who suffer from it as an impacting aesthetic defect, with psychological repercussions especially in the developmental age. “It is the first time in Europe that a completely reabsorbable sternal prosthesis has been used”, announced Meyer. The same 3D printing technique, experts predict, can also be used for other diseases such as chest wall tumors.

For each of the operated teenagers – explains the Florentine pediatric center – the prosthesis was 3D printed with a particular material, the same as absorbable suture thread (polycapro-lactone). Fat cells taken from the patient's thigh were grafted onto this '3D scaffold' made of absorbable material and the body completely incorporated this prosthesis. In all 4 cases, the last very recent one, the surgery lasted less than 3 hours and the patients, discharged on the second post-operative day, returned to their normal life in less than a week without unexpected post-operative complications and having resolved the aesthetic impact of the malformation. An achievement made possible by the collaboration of the Meyer surgeons – led in the operating room by Flavio Facchini, specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery – with T3Ddy, a joint Meyer-University of Florence laboratory supported by the Meyer Foundation, coordinated by Monica Carfagni for UniFi and by Kathleen McGreevy for Meyer, and dedicated to the introduction of highly innovative 3D technologies into the hospital's clinical practice.

In the room together with Facchini also pediatric surgeons Alessandra Martin and Roberto Lo Piccolo, from Antonino Morabito's team, together with anesthetists and nurses, the latter trained with an ad hoc course precisely in preparation for operations of this type. In the pre-operative phase engineers and doctors worked side by side. For each of the patients, starting from the CT scan, the T3Ddy engineers led by Yary Volpe developed the design of the prosthesis, optimizing the geometry in such a way as to adapt to the specific conformation of the patient.

The method developed at Meyer is an experimental method – the AOU specifies – and the 4 cases are included in a trial that uses the same device also tested in a study carried out on adult patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. In this sense, the extensive work of the Pediatric Ethics Committee of the Tuscany Region is fundamental to achieve ministerial approval of the trial and to be able to begin the study, which involves a 2-year follow-up of all cases. In total there are 10 planned.

“We have started working on the future of reconstructive surgery – says Facchini – This is a further, huge step forward because at Meyer 3D printing is now used for the creation of prostheses that integrate completely into the organism, and not just for print preparatory models or 'classic' 3D prostheses. The use of reabsorbable 3D prostheses has many advantages for our young patients: the interventions are less invasive and no foreign bodies remain in the organisms, reducing the risks of rejection and infections. In the future Next time we hope to be able to use the same technique for the surgery of other pathologies, such as Poland's syndrome, defects of the anterior chest wall and tumors in that area”.