High-Tech Implants

Recovery rates for American soldiers with head wounds are improving significantly because of new technology to quickly produce custom cranial implants that are more resistant to infection.

More than 70 cranial plates have been produced using the new process at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, D.C., with an average surgical time of 90 minutes from first incision to completion of suturing. Previously, the same types of surgeries took from two hours to more than six hours.

"The time savings can be directly attributed to the improved implant design and attached fixation," says Stephen L. Rouse, DDS, a government contractor working in the 3-D Medical Applications Lab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "Large implants were previously multi-piece constructs, and were slower to place and fixate."

At the heart of the process is advanced application of 3-D digital scanning and high-powered additive manufacturing equipment that can make highly accurate custom shapes in medical-grade titanium alloys.

The original systems were based on lasers that created 3D shapes in processes called stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering (SLS). Both are owned today by 3D Systems of Rock Hill, SC.

The rapid prototyping market gravitated to inexpensive 3D printers that can quickly make models from a wide range of materials, mostly plastic.

High-End Focus

Higher-end additive manufacturing equipment is increasingly focusing on dental, medical and aerospace applications, where engineers greatly value the ability to create precise, complex, strong parts often not possible with injection molding because of high costs or process limitations.

The work at Walter Reed improves life expectancy and quality of life for wounded soldiers.

One living, breathing example is Paul Statzer, who was a world champion weight lifter in 2000. He was a veteran of the first Gulf War and decided to re-enlist. His unit was sent to Iraq, and in 2005 he was investigating craters created by roadside bombs. An improvised explosive device detonated near Sgt. Statzer, removing much of his skull, his eye and parts of his larynx.

He received emergency treatment in Iraq and Germany, and doctors told his family he might not survive.

W. Lee Warren, the surgeon who did the initial brain surgery on Sgt.

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