3-D printing can create medical devices that can save and improve lives, but regulators are holding up progress.
By Justin Coutu
Ever since Garrett Peterson was born, his parents have had to watch him suddenly stop breathing. Garrett was born with a trachea so weak that the littlest things make it collapse, cutting off his ability to breathe. So the Petersons contacted Dr. Glenn Green at the University of Michigan, who specializes in conditions like Garrett’s. Dr. Green teamed up with Scott Hollister, a biomedical engineer who runs the university’s 3-D printing lab, to create a remarkable solution to Garrett’s problem—a device that will hold open Garrett’s windpipe until it’s strong enough to work on its own.
First, they took a CT scan of Garrett’s windpipe, so they could make a 3-D replica of it. Next, they used the 3-D printer to design and build a small, flexible tube to fit around the weakest parts of Garrett’s windpipe. They placed the two splints on either side of Garrett’s windpipe, and when they finally let air flow through into his lungs, his windpipe stayed open. The splint is designed to expand as he grows and eventually dissolve in his body as his own windpipe gets strong enough to work normally.
