MEDICAL MARVEL: 3D-Printed Skull Saves Woman’s Life [Pic + Video]

Doctors in the Netherlands at University Medical Center Utrecht say they have successfully implanted a 3D-printed skull into a young woman.

The 23-hour surgery occurred three months ago, according to NBC News, but details are just being released, as the woman, 22, is recovering extremely well.

While her name has not been released, she apparently suffered “from severe headaches due to a thickening of her skull.” Over time, she lost both her vision and her motor coordination and “it was only a matter of time before other essential brain functions would have atrophied.”

Now?

The woman’s pain is gone, her vision restored, and she is even back at work.

Skulls used to be created by hand using a medical ‘cement,’ but they never fit quite right, one of the doctors said. The technology of 3D printing now allows for an “exact fit.”

The plastic skull was “manufactured with the help of Anatomics, an Australian medical device company that specializes in 3D printing.”