An Axial3D printed model of a kidney has helped surgeons in Belfast, UK, perform a life-saving transplant operation on a young woman.

Pauline Fenton is a young woman from Belfast, UK, who recently underwent a transplant operation. Life-saving and extremely complex, the surgery benefited from sophisticated preparations that included the 3D printing of the donor organ.

Before the transplant, Fenton was living with end stage kidney disease and was reliant on dialysis. Luckily, her 45-year-old father was confirmed to be a suitable donor.

However, to complicate the situation further, surgeons found his blood group was incompatible. Not only that, they also found a potentially cancerous cyst on his kidney. This meant treating the cyst before being able to transplant.

In order to learn more about the tumor and cyst, a 3D printed model was produced from CT scans. Axial3D, a company which specializes in medical 3D printing, was the company behind the 3D model.

Consultant Transplant Surgeon Tim Brown explains, “In this case, our donor’s kidney was the best possible option for his daughter’s life saving transplant, so we had to ensure precise and complete excision of the cyst to retrieve maximum healthy tissue for transplantation.”

Planning and Preparing for the Complex Kidney Transplant

Brown explains that by having a 3D print on hand, surgeons are provided with another level of understanding. This isn’t possible to achieve simply by looking at images on a screen.

The surgeons used the Axial3D print to rehearse the surgery and prepare for any complications. In doing so, Brown’s team gained a familiarity with the particular organ they would later operate on, giving the procedure greater precision in the operating theater.

“This father’s gift of life to his daughter proves the benefit of living organ donation but in this case, I’m certain 3D printing also played a part in helping us to give this young mother an improved quality of life and the opportunity to see her child grow up,” he continues.

As well as drastically improving lives, such kidney transplants that would previously have been too complex to risk could save the UK’s National Health Service money. For example, the average cost for a patient on dialysis is approximately £30,000 per year. However, after a transplant, patients only require management costs of around £5,000 per year.

Fenton’s case is the first complete excision of a Bosniak 2F renal cyst from a donor kidney without the need for revision surgery. As this surgery went well, it’s likely we’ll see 3D printing playing a larger role in such tricky operations in the future.

Daniel Crawford, founder of Belfast company Axial3D, adds: “We are delighted to hear that both father and daughter are doing well after their recent operations. Improving patient outcome is at the heart of what we do.”

Source: Axial3D