The triple print saves a patient from paralysis in Abu Dhabi

Doctors at Healthpoint and the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi have managed to save a patient from paralysis through 3D printing technology.

The 35-year-old woman had a slow-growing neurodegenerative tumor that developed in the nerve envelope of the spinal cord, then grew and began to compress the spinal cord, causing weakness and numbness.

The doctors decided to send her back to the hospital, where she underwent complex surgery to eradicate the tumor, with the help of a three-dimensional printing technique useful for planning surgical operations tailored to the unique anatomical nature of each patient.

The technique consists in transforming the axial class images into a digital model and using three-dimensional printers that lay out the layers carefully, one by one, until the formation of the final shape.

Doctors used detailed images to prepare a three-dimensional model of the tumor-affected spinal cord in the patient, which helped eradicate it without causing damage to the nerves.

Advanced surgical techniques have been used to monitor the sensory and motor functions of the patient's limbs, allowing doctors to monitor the effects of their work on the nerves and to prevent permanent damage.

And explained d. "You need to print a complete three-dimensional model for high-resolution imaging and complex computer modeling to create a medically accurate three-dimensional model that can be printed," said Andrew River, radiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. "The hospital's Radiography Institute is collaborating with researchers from the University of New York at Abu Dhabi to produce this design."

He emphasized d. Ramon Navarro, a neurosurgeon for whom the three-dimensional model allowed to accurately know the location of the tumor and determine the appropriate way to eradicate it.

The Institute of Neurology, one of the five centers of excellence at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, is a leading center for the treatment of common and complex neurodegenerative disorders and provides advanced diagnostic services for central nervous system disorders. such as epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis and spinal surgery.

The Institute is the official stroke treatment center in Abu Dhabi and the first in the Middle East to provide epilepsy monitoring services 24 hours a day.