The story of a man who saved his wife with a 3D printer and was innovating medical care before he knew it
3D printing technology has changed every manufacturing process, but it has also had an impact on the medical field.
How 3D Printing Helped a Man Save his Wife's Sight | Make:
https://makezine.com/2015/01/14/hands-on-health-care/
Until August 2013, Michael Balzer was an ordinary software developer who made a living by serving as a technical instructor for the Air Force. Mr. Balzer, who was familiar with 3D imaging, also created 3D graphics to help his wife and psychotherapist Scott, and the theme of medicine and recovery has come up many times in his life. Although it was there, he thought it had nothing to do with his main business. And in the summer of 2013, Mr. Balzer started his work in 3D design scan printing.
In the same summer that Balzer started his 3D-related work, his wife Scott began to suffer from headaches. Scott had had his thyroid gland removed a few months ago, so worried Balzer asked Scott to have an MRI, which resulted in a tumor 3 cm behind her left eye. Of course, the two were frightened, but the neurologist simply insisted that they should be checked again within the year because it is common for women.
Balzer and Scott, who had witnessed the 'importance of self-examination' and 'state-of-the-art medical technology' in the previous thyroid surgery, said 'recheck within the year' by a neurologist. I ignored it and sent the MRI results to a handful of talented neurologists in the country. Almost all of them then agreed that 'Mr. Scott needs surgery.'
A few months later, when Scott had another MRI, he was horribly told that the tumor was getting bigger. However, when Balzer took the new MRI data home and opened it in Photoshop, he noticed that the tumor hadn't grown at all. MRI data is often in a 2D file format called DICOM , but it was misunderstood that the tumor was growing because the radiologist took it from a different angle than the previous MRI. And Scott wondered, 'Why don't you look at the data in a better way?' And decided to convert the 2D DICOM image to 3D himself.
Mr. Balzer wanted to be able to accurately grasp the position and size of Scott's tumor with 3D technology and derive the necessary treatment. It is generally said that a craniotomy is required to remove Scott's tumor, which is classified as a meningioma. The surgery required Scott's brain to move out of the skull once to remove the tumor underneath it, which could lead to loss of smell, taste, and vision. However, Scott and Balzer, who have had thyroid surgery with state-of-the-art robotic arms, thought there might be other ways.
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Mr. Balzer created a 3D volume rendered image from a DICOM image using InVesalius, a software developed in Brazil that converts MRI and CT data into a 3D image, so that the tumor can be observed from all angles. Next, when I searched for a doctor who could upload the data to Sketchfab , which can share the data of the 3D model, and perform a new type of treatment, I found that there was a doctor who corresponds to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Balzer learned that UPMC's neurosurgeon would not perform a craniotomy and would use a microdrill to remove the tumor from the left eyelid. He said he sent a full-scale model of the skull to UPMC.
This is an image of Scott's head in 3D.
And below is a full-scale model of the skull sent to UPMC.
Although Mr. Balzer does not know at this time, the style of explaining the diagnosis to the patient using the model output by the 3D printer was later described by Michael Patton, CEO of Medical Innovation Labs , as 'a new treatment. It will be the standard. ' Unknowingly, Balzer has become a pioneer in the field, and Patton said, 'By making a prototype with a 3D printer, we can eliminate animal testing and the concept before many patients are treated. It may be possible to demonstrate. '
Due to technological advances, 'revolutions' are often caused by the hands of people outside the medical field, as in this example. “People involved in medical care often focus too much on medical care and don't think about'why they do it that way'or'how they can do it differently',” says Patton. This case, in which Mr. Balzer, who is familiar with 3D printing and 3D scanning, has made progress in the medical world through a process different from that of doctors, is the appearance of a new medical revolution.
Currently, Balzer is developing a 3D scanning platform using a secure cloud server that allows doctors and patients to share images. It also manages a podcast called All Things 3D , and holds seminars on 3D technology in the medical field.
Scott has successfully completed the surgery, but it is believed that his eyesight would have deteriorated significantly if he had been watching for six months as he was told at the first visit. Scott, who had 95% of his tumor removed after eight hours of surgery, returned to work three weeks later, leaving little evidence of surgery.
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