DM Beijing - A Chinese farmer left with a large chunk missing from his skull is to have it repaired with the help of a 3D printer.
The man, known only as 46-year-old Hu, was injured after falling from the third floor of his home in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.
Last week surgeons in China successfully implanted an artificial 3D-printed vertebra into a 12-year-old bone cancer patient to help him walk again.
Doctors at Peking University Hospital in Beijing first removed a tumour located
They then replaced it with the 3D-printed implant between the first and third vertebrae to allow him to lift his head.
The five-hour surgery was a world first and will enable the boy named Minghao to walk again after spending two months confined to a hospital bed.
While 3D-printed organs are not yet commonly used, there have been previous cases of patients being implanted with 3D-printed jaws, hips and even a pelvis.