A team of doctors from the Burjeel Hospital , Abu Dhabi performed 3D-technology-based knee replacement surgery on two patients with severe and painful osteoarthritis . According to Prof. Dr. Matthais Honl , a consultant orthopedic surgeon and also the Head of the Joint Replacement Unit at the Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Research, this is the first time that such a 3D printing-based technology had been used in the UAE and in the Gulf region.
In this surgery, a CT scan was performed to accurately assess the size and dimension of the knee, based on which a wax mould was created. This served as a model for a custom-fit, 3D-printed knee implant that was subsequently used to replace the damaged knee of each of the two patients. Dr. Honl further added that these 3D-printed customized knees were optimally designed to fit a patient’s anatomy, and were attached to the natural joint lines of the…
