3D Printed Medical Innovations at University of Michigan

For those who believe that 3D printing education is used solely in classes for engineering and architecture, take note.  The University of Michigan is actually using 3D printing videos and models to save lives.  In March of 2014, the University’s Children’s Hospital used this advanced technology to create a special device that would save the life of a then 18-month old infant named Garrett Peterson. 

Garret had a very rare medical condition that caused his breathing to sporadically stop without notice four to five times per day.  Try as they might, doctors could not seem to get the affliction under control using traditional medical technology and respiratory ventilation systems.  The baby was so fragile that his parents were even afraid to hold him, fearing that they would compromise his airways. 

The medical condition is called “Tetralogy of Fallot”, which means that little Garret was born without a certain pulmonary heart valve.  So the doctors from the University of Michigan simply used their 3D printing education to design and print him a miraculous solution.  The medical innovators first created a 3D model of the infant’s airway, and then they custom designed a tiny splint that would fit perfectly inside Garret’s bronchi.  Thanks to the doctors at UM’s Children’s Hospital, little Garret is now living a full and happy life.