A man who had his nose removed due to aggressive cancer has now received a 3D printed implant to reconstruct his face.
The dad, aged 59, was struggling to breathe, eat and even drink water due to the cancerous tumour which had affected both his mouth and nose.
While he had been diagnosed years ago, the disease reached stage four this year and was quickly becoming much more aggressive.
The dispatcher underwent the required treatment, which included removal of skin tissue, parts of his nose and bones in his upper jaw.
In a bid to reconstruct his face, doctors researched many ideas, until surgeon Vladimir Ivashkov settled on using computed tomography images and a surgical navigation system.
Now, the team of specialists have recreated all parts of nose using a computer, 3D printer and skin grafts in an incredible procedure.
Vladimir Ivashkov, who works at the Samara State Medical University, said: “We used several high-tech methods at once.
“First, it is microsurgery. They used their own tissue from the patient’s forearm to reconstruct the skin of the nose.
“To make the nose frame, a special titanium plate was printed on a 3D printer.
“Its proportions are completely recreated according to the anatomical parameters of the patient.
“And the last detail is the cartilaginous parts of the nose printed on a 3D printer from the patient’s own cartilage tissues.”
Across 10 hours, more than 12 doctors performed the operation and now, the dispatcher, from Chelyabinsk, Russia, is feeling back to his old self and will be home early this month.
