4D Printing Used in Breast Reconstruction Surgery

According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in US women in 2017 alone, and it is only surpassed by lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women in developed countries. Statistics show that over 1.7 million new cases of breast cancer among women worldwide occurred in 2012. 3D printing has been used to make better breast prostheses for cancer survivors out of silicone, in addition to producing prostheses that cost less. A hospital in China recently made a groundbreaking announcement - it had used 4D printing to reconstruct a new breast for a breast cancer patient. The surgery was actually performed back in August of 2016, but the hospital announced last week that the implant, which was developed by a national lab with Xi'an Jiaotong University, is doing very well. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/177588/4d-printing-breast-implant/

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