3D Printed Hip by Mobelife Puts Teenager Back On Her Feet

In 2012, Prof Rydholm from the Skane University Hospital in Lund, Sweden came to Mobelife with the case of a 15 year old Swedish girl who suffered from Neurofibromatosis, a congenital disease also known as ‘Von Recklinghausen’s disease’, which left her with a severe skeletal deformation of the left hip because of a neurofibroma that destroyed her pelvis and which was causing a lot of pain.

The girl had been suffering from her hip condition since childhood and in 2010 the neurofibroma was surgically removed. After a femur fracture a few months later, her situation took a turn for the worse, forcing her to leave school to be home educated for the next 2 years. Her doctors initially saw very limited or no treatment options for her hip and she was looking at a life in a wheelchair. [Swedish girl post-op]

Prof. Rydholm took this case to Mobelife and their team of engineers set to design a custom implant, based on the patient's CT scan, to fit the bony situation of the patient and to reconstruct the defect. In September 2012, the 3D printed titanium implant was delivered to the hospital in Sweden and the girl was operated on. Almost immediately after surgery, she was pain free. By Christmas, she was out of her wheelchair and walking with just one crutch.

Now, one year and a half after the surgery she is going back to school for a while already, even without crutches.

About Mobelife

Founded as part of the Materialise group, active since 1990, Mobelife is a specialist in implant design and production for challenging bone and joint reconstruction surgery.

Through the synergy with Materialise know-how in the field of image processing and surgery guidance, and a unique highly-innovative approach to implant design, Mobelife products meet the highest standards for custom implants and they maximally improve the patient's quality of life after the most complex reconstructive surgery.

In just a few years, our highly specialised team has expanded significantly, assisting health care providers directly – and patients indirectly – in several renowned European hospitals.