3D printed vertebrae replaces cancer-ridden vertebrae in world-first

A cancer patient can be thankful for the advent of 3D medical printers after his cancer-ridden vertebrae was successfully replaced with a 3D-printed part.

Australian neurosurgeon Ralph Mobbs completed the world-first surgery in a marathon 15 hours in December for his patient Drage Josevski,  has reported.

‘Without surgery and without treatment of this type of tumour, the outlook for this patient would be particularly nasty and a particularly horrific way of dying,’ Dr Mobbs told ABC News.

Mr Josevski had been diagnosed with a rare cancer known as chordoma, which attacks the bones of the spine and skull with only one case per million diagnosed each year.

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Mr Josevski’s tumour was located at the top of the two vertebrae next to his skull, leading to a poor prognosis

Australian neurosurgeon Ralph Mobbs in the operating room during a 15-hour marathon surgery

In Mr Josevski’s case the tumour was located at the top of the two vertebrae, leading to a poor prognosis.

They were not sure whether he would survive the operation, given his poor prognosis and the fact that it was a ‘particularly complicated, long and difficult surgery.’

It would expose the top of his neck – where the neck and head meet – and essentially detach the patient’s head from his neck and remove the tumour before reattaching his head back to his neck.

‘There’s no two ways about it, he would gradually lose function of his arms and legs, gradually lose function of his capacity to breathe, eat, let’s not take it too far further than that, it’s not a pleasant death at all,’ Dr Mobbs said. 

His family had struggled after he was diagnosed on a family holiday to Mr Josevski’s native Macedonia. 

Dr Mobbs ordered a custom 3D-printed body part to replace the vertebrae and used sophisticated, complex computer software to plan every detail of the surgical procedure.

However, he said they had to be cautious of the large gap formed at the completion of the tumour removal.

Despite this, Dr Mobbs planned the prosthesis to fit perfectly in place ‘like a glove’ which would form the stability for where the head and the neck meet so Mr Josevski’s head ‘won’t fall off.’

After 15 hours on the operating table, the marathon world-first surgery was completed.

‘I must say that it was a delight to put it in, because after spending 15 hours taking out a very complicated tumour it was beautiful just to slot in the implant and have it fit so nicely and to be able to reconstruct the space left by the tumour,’ Dr Mobbs told Mr Josevski’s wife Lila and daughter Tanya Josevska.

While the surgery was a success, Mr Josevski has been having trouble eating and speaking but is expected to recover within six months. 

‘The complications that you’ve got are all related to the fact that we’ve gone through your mouth and we’ve stretched your mouth open for many, many hours and the complications are related to the fact that there’s been a prolonged exposure through your mouth,’ Dr Mobbs said.

3D bio-printers, which print prosthetic body parts, create biological constructs by dispensing cells onto a biocompatible scaffold using a successive layer-by-layer approach to generate tissue-like three-dimensional structures. This technology can increasingly be used to replace bones and organs.

In the past, 3D printers have been used to print crazy things such as body parts with a ‘bioprinter’, food, clothing, musical instruments, cars, guns, drones, adult products, and people have even used 3D printers to print 3D printers.

Mr Josevski’s replacement vertebrae was designed and manufactured by a Victorian company called Anatomics. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dr Ralph Mobbs of the Sydney Spine Clinic for comment.