The 3D thoracic prosthesis system demonstrates its good results in patients - La Provincia

The Thoracic Surgery Section of the Insular University Hospital of Gran Canaria, dependent on the Insular-Maternal and Infant University Hospital Complex, center attached to the Ministry of Health of the Canary Government, has presented, this morning, the results of the system of thoracic prostheses 3D customized to treat tumors and deformities in the thorax.

This technology, presented by the thoracic surgeon of the Hospital Complex, José Ramón Cano, and the engineer of the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), Donato Monopoli, has allowed solutions to complex cases of patients with tumors that affect the chest wall (sternum) and ribs), as well as others with severe sequelae of trauma, accidents and rib fractures.

Since 2016, a total of nine patients (six men and three women) have been operated. Five of these patients had large tumors that affected the sternum and ribs, two patients with deformities in the scapula or shoulder blade and two other large hernias between the ribs, secondary to severe trauma to the chest, through which the lung went out between the ribs.

This technology, carried out by the thoracic surgeons of the Insular-Maternal and Children's University Hospital Complex and the engineers of the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands, consists of a three-dimensional reconstruction customized by means of a CT of each patient and the subsequent design of a prosthesis that solves the defect to be corrected . Subsequently, the model is printed in real size in plastic to prove it and finally the impression of the customized 3D prosthesis is made in titanium.

This technique has allowed the team to perform large reconstructions of the ribs and sternum with a dynamic system that does not limit respiratory movements.

In addition, being customized for each patient, they adapt perfectly to it, which favors a rapid recovery and returns the patient a chest as anatomical and physiological as possible.
The prostheses that were previously used did not meet these requirements, as they are rigid prostheses that limit respiratory movements, in addition to being smaller, these patients were left with aesthetic sequelae after surgery.

The Insular-Maternal Infant University Hospital Complex is the center that has carried out the largest number of personalized and dynamic 3D implants worldwide and the results have been presented in various national and international conferences, with publications in journals of great scientific impact, in addition to receive an award in the National Congress of the specialty of Thoracic Surgery.
Currently, the team that carries out this technology is exporting these advances and collaborating with other hospitals, both national and international, for the design of these prostheses, also carrying out surgical collaborations for their implantation.