A TWO YEAR old American girl has had her face rebuilt by surgeon using revolutionary 3D printing techniques.
Violet Pietrok was born as a twin, but was born with a rare condition called Tessier facial cleft. As a foetus, the bones in Violet’s face never fused, leaving her with a gap in her face and no cartilage in her nose.
Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital managed to reshape her face using a replica of her skull printed from an MRI. The models allowed the surgical team test how they were going to rebuild Violet’s skull without interfering with brain or nerve function.
In the past, doing so would have been hugely expensive, but these four models cost just €1,000.
Dr John Meara, one of Violet’s surgical team, says in a video for the hospital that the models were invaluable.
“This gives me the ability to see on this model better than I will in the operating room.”
The surgical journey is detailed in a series of videos on the hospital’s website, with Violet’s mother Alicia Taylor telling ABC News that her daughter is back to herself after the surgery.
“She’s fantastic. She’s so happy all the time. If she’s not smiling, she’s generally asleep or throwing a fit.”
Violet has a long road of surgeries ahead of her, but her mother says that she is “blessed” to have received the help and support she has so far.
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