Doctors in Dubai have succeeded in saving the life of a 60-year-old Omani woman who suffered from a cerebral aneurysm with the help of a state-of-the-art custom 3D-printed model of the patient’s brain dilated arteries to help plan the complex surgery.

The patient was admitted to the hospital after suffering from severe bleeding in the brain due a cerebrovascular disorder in which the weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery causes a localised dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel.

Dr Abdullah Qasim, consultant and head of neurosurgery at Rashid Hospital, said that an X-ray found that the patient suffered from cerebral aneurysm in four veins.

“Due to the complexity and rarity of the patient’s case we needed a 3D model that will allow us to understand exactly how we can reach the arteries in a safe way. This helps us reduce risk because we can’t imagine the problem without the 3D model,” said Dr Qasim.
After studying the model, Dr Ayman Al Sibaei, interventional radiologist at Rashid Hospital conducted a six-hour endovascular surgery where he placed coils to stop the dilation, which was causing the bleeding.

Dr Qasim said the surgery was successful and the patient was transferred to the ICU where she is recovering.

Dr Qasim stressed the importance of utilising 3D printing in medical care by stating: “Without the 3D model the surgery would have taken longer and the risk would have been higher because it would have meant conducting the surgery with limited understanding of the abnormality. The patient is recovering well, we conducted an MRI and CT scan, which found that blood was flowing normally,” he concluded.

The 3D model was provided by 3DVinci Creations. “Whenever there is a complex case for a surgery, Surgeons will inevitably have complex procedure who used to rely on medical Imaging such as CT or MRI Scan 2D Data, but now 3DVinci Creations can make complex anatomical models using the same Data giving it another dimensional perception using 3D Printing, it will be easier to study the extent of patient diagnosis and plan the intricate steps of the surgery by using the patient Specific anatomical model, thus reducing the risks & costs Involved in the entire procedure and improving the outcome,” said Suneel Kashyap, sales manager at 3DVinci Creations.

Dr Mohammad Al Redha, director of the Department of Organisational Transformation at Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said this is not the first time that DHA has conducted a complex surgery with the aid of 3D printing.  The authority’s doctors succeeded in removing a tumour from a patient’s kidney with the help of a custom 3D-printed organ that aided them in planning the complex surgery last December.

The authority has also provided a Dubai resident the region’s first-ever fully 3D-printed prosthetic leg, a new innovation that could soon slash prices of costly conventional prosthetics by half.  

Dr Al Redha said the DHA is planning to further utilise 3D printing in medical care in Dubai as it is in line with the Dubai 3D Printing Strategy, a unique global initiative that aims to exploit technology for the service of humanity and promote the status of the UAE and Dubai as a leading hub of 3D printing technology by 2030.– TradeArabia News Service