(ANSA)- Rome, December 3 - A 3D-printed bronchus that can be
reabsorbed by the body was transplanted into a five-year-old
child to help him breath as part of an experimental operation
carried out at Rome's Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital, the first
surgery of this kind in Europe, health officials said Tuesday.
The little patient had bronchomalacia, the collapse of a wall
of the bronchi, which does not allow sufficient oxygenation of
the lungs.
The transplanted bronchus was a project entirely carried out
by the Bambino Gesù with sophisticated imaging and
bioengineering techniques.
3D-absorbable bronchus transplant on kid
Surgery at Bambin Gesu' Hospital allows child to breathe