3-D printers got a bad rap recently after an American company offered blueprints on 3-D printed guns. But for an Ottawa man, the technology has re-shaped his skull and given him back his life. These printers have been used for auto parts, animating film characters but it's the medical use of 3D technology that is becoming a life changer.
The Ottawa Hospital’s Rehabilitation Centre and the hospital itself are familiar haunts for Etienne Coon-Come Masiringi. He spent months at the hospital, first as a patient and now as a volunteer, giving back, he says, after the Ottawa Hospital gave him back his life. The 25-year-old was in a horrific accident in 2016 that left him with a severe brain injury. The exact circumstances are unclear.
“My brain started swelling,” says Coon-Come Masiringi, “and in order to allow the brain to swell properly, they had to take out a piece of my skull and I was walking around without a piece of my skull for about 10 months.”
In the past, just a flap of skin would have been used to cover the area; that is, until the advent of the 3D printer. The technology is now used for many medical purposes, including replacing part of Masiringi's skull.
“It feels like the rest of my skull,” he says, “It just blends in.”
In London, Ontario, a 3D metal printing start-up called Adeiss is creating custom-made medical parts for patients within about 10 hours.
“A doctor from anywhere around the world can order a part,” Adeiss CEO Paul Paolatto told CTV News in London a few months ago, “send it to us and we will print it and ship it overnight so it could be installed in the patient potentially the next day.”
At the Ottawa Hospital, a 3D printer helps surgeons with complex medical cases visualize how they will operate with an exact 3D model of a tumor or a fracture. The model helps patients prepare for surgery, too.
Dr. Adnan Sheikh is the Medical Director of the Ottawa Hospital 3D Printing Program, “A patient won't understand a CT scan or MRI images,” he explains, “but having this hand held 3D model can explain to patients exactly what's going to happen, how the surgery's going to be done and allow them to consent to the surgery much easier.”
Coon-Come Masiringi marvels at the technology. It's allowed him to regain his confidence and get back on his feet and yes, even regrow the dreadlocks he lost before his surgery.
“They’re coming back,” he says, “Right now it's an afro, but they're coming back.”
And clearly, so is he. After more than a year off recovering from the accident and the surgery, Coon-Come Masiringiis back at Carleton University, pursuing a degree in social work.
