A MIRACLE OF THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY HELPING SURGICAL SKILLS

*A WORLD FIRST IN PUNJAB
**LATEST 3 D PRINTING HELPS IN PERFECT SURGERY
Ludhiana, March 11, 2018: In a perfect example of cutting edge technology helping surgical skills – a 3D print of a rare and potentially fatal malformation helped in the conduct of a safe and a perfect surgery. Mr.Parwinder Singh a 23 year old college student was noted to have a bluish discoloration of his body since childhood along with shortness of breath. When his colour started getting worse he came to Dr.Harinder Singh Bedi – Chairman Cardiac Sciences at Ludhiana Mediways Hospital in Ludhiana. His heart scans were normal- so Dr.Bedi suspected a lung problem and got a CT scan done. There was a large connection between the right sided pulmonary artery and vein which was bypassing the lung. So blue blood was entering the body without picking up oxygen. This is called a large pulmonary arterio-venous malformation (AVM) and is a rare disease. Dr. Bedi realized that the AVM could suddenly burst leading to a life threatening bleeding. On the CT the malformation looked extremely complex with the arteries and veins hopelessly intermixed. The treatment was an early intervention. However it was expected to cause major problems during the procedure as the pathology was intricate.
So Dr. Bedi decided to take the help of a new technology called 3D printing . This is being done in the Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) Ludhiana under Prof. Rupinder Singh. Using the CT scan images as a base Prof Rupinder Singh along with his team used special equipment (3D printing hardware/software) to create a life sized 3D print of the malformation.
This specimen could be rotated all around and visualized from all angles. After a careful study of this specimen Dr. Bedi went ahead with the minimally invasive surgery . This would normally have taken over 3 hours and there was a risk that even a 1 mm mistake could trigger a torrential bleed .With the knowledge provided by the 3D – Dr. Bedi was able to remove the whole AVM in just 23 minutes with hardly any blood loss. Mr. Parwinder Singh recovered well . His bluish colour has been replaced with a healthy normal pink and his breathing is normal.
Prof. Rupinder Singh said that this technology is available only in a very few centers in India. Dr. Bedi said that he could foresee the immense contribution of this modality in minimally invasive surgery and precise procedures all of which lead to enhanced patient safety. On an exhaustive internet search there has been no mention of the use of 3D printing in such a potentially dangerous lung pathology. The team has sent this report to an International Journal so that other doctors can be made aware of this development. The case study will also be available on Stratasys USA website for further reference.
Dr Baldeep Singh and Mr Gurmeet Singh Kular – Chairman and Director of Ludhiana Mediways – reiterated their commitment to bring International level Cardio Vascular & Thoracic Care to the people of this region.