▲Professor Ho-Seok Sa from the Department of Ophthalmology at Asan Medical Center is performing a 3D-printed artificial bone implant surgery on a patient with an orbital wall fracture. 

A recent study has found that even if the orbit, the bones surrounding the eye, is fractured, it can be successfully reconstructed to its original shape using 3D-printed patient specific implants.

Professor Ho-Seok Sa and his team from the Department of Ophthalmology at Asan Medical Center analyzed six-month postoperative outcomes of 40 patients who underwent orbital reconstruction using 3D-printed implants at Asan Medical Center. CT scans showed that the orbital volume decreased from 109.0% before surgery to 100.6% after surgery. In addition, morphological deviation was also significantly reduced from 3.426 mm before surgery to 1.073 mm after surgery. Symptoms such as enophthalmos, diplopia, and restricted eye movement were resolved within six months, and no postoperative complications were reported. The average time required to insert the patient specific implant was just 19.8 seconds.

Professor Ho-Seok Sa said, “This technique opens up new possibilities for patients who have long suffered from complications of earlier surgeries.”

The study was recently published in the international journal ‘Scientific Reports’.