SURGERY UTILIZING 3D PRINTING

[Anchor Lead]

3D printing is one of the core technologies in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. It's being widely used in Korea's health care sector to produce organs customized to each patient. This allows to reduce the duration of surgeries and adverse effects. The first surgery of reproducing ankle bones using pure titanium has been carried out on Korea.

[Pkg]

Noh Jeom-rye has had difficulty walking for two years because of severe pain in her ankle. Her condition was caused by poor blood supply to the astragalus in the ankle bone.

[Soundbite] Noh Jeom-rye(Ankle bone disease patient) : "My foot was swollen and aching. This part is very swollen."

She had to rely on painkillers. Finally there's good news. An artificial ankle bone can be produced from pure titanium using 3D technology. It's harmless to the body and can replace the patient's decaying bone.

[Soundbite] Kim Bom-soo(Prof., Inha Univ. Hospital) : "We used titanium to make an artificial bone looking the same as the real bone before deformation."

Because the artificial bone is identical in appearance to the real bone, the surgery doesn't take long. Rehab is quick and easy, with some patients capable of walking soon after the surgery. This surgery was first performed in the U.S. around 3 or 4 years ago. In Korea it was not permitted due to safety and efficacy concerns. The operation wrapped up in just two hours. The patient feels far less pain now and there's almost zero side effects. This technology will likely be used widely to treat injuries from traffic or industrial accidents. 3D printing has emerged as a core technology in the health care sector following successful surgeries on the cranial bone and the sternum last year, and this time the ankle bone.