Beijing, China-based Peking University Third Hospital surgeons replaced five vertebrae with spine tumors in a patient with three-dimensional printed implants on June 12, according to www.3ders.org. The patient had chordoma.
Here are five things to know:
1. The hospital is reportedly the first hospital in the world to replace that many vertebrae.
2. Surgeons removed 19 centimeters of spine, including thoracic sections 10, 11 and 12 as well as lumbar sections one and two.
3. Surgeons implanted the artificial vertebrae between the adjacent vertebral bodies to offer support.
4. 3-D printing allowed the surgeons to create an implant uniquely tailored to the patient's spine.
5. China's Food and Drug Administration approved the 3-D printed artificial vertebral body on May 6.