Most extensive skull implant using 3D printing

In November 2013, neurosurgeon Bon Verweij and maxillofacial surgeon Marvick Muradin (both Netherlands) performed the most extensive skull implant so far, replacing about 90% of a skull using 3D-printing technology. The operation was carried out in the University Medical Centre Utrecht (The Netherlands) and took 23 hours. The patient, a 22-year-old woman, suffered from a medical condition that made her cranial bone thicken. The growing bone was putting increasing pressure on her brain, affecting vital body functions.

The implanted skull was made of a plastic material (poly methyl methacrylate) and was fabricated using 3D-printing technology by a specialized Australian company. This technology allowed the doctors to have an implant with a very specific shape, which fitted perfectly the head of the patient.

The patient made a full recovery, without any symptoms/problems; without this operation, she would have died.

Previously, parts of the skull made with 3D-printing technology have been implanted in other patients.