Doctors save baby’s life using 3D-printed splint

3D printing doesn’t have to be limited to tchotchkes. The production method has already proven its utility in surgery, and now a doctor has used 3D printing to help save a baby’s life. The baby was born with a condition known as tracheomalacia that left him with a trachea susceptible to collapsing and cutting off his air supply. University of Michigan doctor Glenn Green used a 3D-printed “splint” to support the trachea in an emergency procedure, and so far the results have been extremely promising.