Living in the Future: South Korea becomes 6th nation capable of 3D-printed chest transplants

World
Europe

02:52

South Korea has carried out its first chest transplantation using 3D-printing technology. It's the sixth nation in the world to achieve this milestone, after Spain, Italy, the US, Britain and China. And as Joseph Kim reports, South Korea hopes the technology can spur more innovation in the country.

This 55-year-old patient, who wishes to remain anonymous, was running out of options. A malignant tumor had invaded his thorax. He had undergone four previous surgeries and also received other anti-cancer drugs. But conventional methods were no longer working and the cancer returned.

PARK BYUNG-JOON PROFESSOR, CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL "All of a sudden, the patient once again was feeling pain and the lump on his chest became clearly visible. This meant the cancer had grown resistant. We felt the new treatment was necessary and so we had to urgently perform surgery."

What Dr. Park and his team at Chung-ang University Hospital did was create a new breastbone with a partial ribcage using 3D printing.

JOSEPH KIM SEOUL "This is a model of the sternum that was used in the surgery. As you can see, it's very intricate with curvatures that are bendable and connecting solid to porous states, all of which experts tell me would have been impossible without 3D-printing."

Dr. Park says 3D-printing makes the treatment completely customized for the patient, even for difficult surgeries like Mr. Im's where 3D-printing constructed an artificial titanium breastbone that could accurately fit the patient's thorax based on his CT-scan. And Dr. Park suggests this technology will usher new innovations.

PARK BYUNG-JOON PROFESSOR, CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL "We won't have to give up on patients that could not get surgery, that had no options but to give up trying. We can treat them using 3D-printing."

But many in the industry feel 3D-printing isn't properly being utilized. They say there isn't a proper environment, from both the government to society, to foster the technology.

LEE CHANG-WOO, MANAGING DIRECTOR KOREA INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY "The social perception of the technology remains extremely important. For example, we made this chest bone that was used, but in order to do so, we had to get several government approvals to protect the patient's safety. Although that protects the patients, it slows down development."

South Korea has been on the search for a new growth engine for its economy. The government is investing more into R&D of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D-printing. South Korea prioritizing development over safety has been in the spotlight in recent years. But for some, it's more a matter of life and death than dollars and cents.