Editor’s Note: This post contains graphic images from a surgery.
A 22-year-old Dutch woman recently underwent a revolutionary procedure where she received a 3-D printed skull, which surgeons say was a world first.
The patient suffered from a condition where her own skull thickened, putting pressure on the brain, according to NL Times. The woman’s symptoms became so bad she was beginning to lose her ability to make facial expressions and it was only going to get worse, possibly leading to death.
Applying 3-D printing technology into the medical field has given doctors the ability to custom fit patients with replacement body parts — in this case a plastic skull.
The procedure was conducted at the University Medical Center Utrecht a few months ago and has since been proclaimed a success as the woman is already back at work, Dutch News reported.
“The patient has regained her capacity for facial expression, is free of complaints, is back to work and it is nearly impossible to see she was ever operated on,” Bon Verweij, the lead surgeon, told NL Times.
Watch the footage from the procedure (Warning: graphic imagery):