WCM Surgeon Uses 3D Printer to Build Custom Prosthetic Sternum
February 5, 2018
Penelope Heller was cancer-free after a doctor removed her sternum, which contained a malignant mass.
But the Gore-Tex-based substitute that replaced her sternum caused a new set of issues. Heller had difficulty breathing, she told NY1, and began feeling pain in her upper back. A year-and-a-half after the procedure, "I was thinking to myself that there’s something wrong,” she told the local news station.
Heller’s search for relief led her to Dr. Jeffrey Port, a thoracic surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, and an Australian-based device company Anatomics, which used CAT scans and a 3D printer to create a prosthetic sternum just for her.
Head over to NY1 to learn more about Heller's recovery and the device Dr. Port implanted.