用4D打印治疗乳腺癌

A Chinese hospital announced on Tuesday that doctors have recreated a breast for a cancer patient using 4D printing.

The surgery was performed on August 8, 2016, and the printed breast has grown well with the patient's own tissue, said Ling Rui, a vascular surgery doctor with Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

The patient underwent a mastectomy for her left breast last year, before having the surgery.

"Compared with three-dimensional printing, 4D printing adds time as another dimension," said Ling.

Doctors collected data on the size of her tumor and original breast, and reconstructed a bio-degradable breast.

The implant was developed by the hospital with a national lab of Xi'an Jiaotong University.

"It is sufficiently strong, and will degrade in designed period of time, which is in the patient's case one to two years," said Zhang Juliang, an assistant professor in Xijing Hospital who participated in the surgery.

Its porous nature allows human tissue to grow into the implant and ultimately replace it, Zhang said.

"In the ten months since the surgery, the implant has grown well, and the patient's veins and tissue have started to grow back," Ling said.

Compared to existing methods of breast reconstruction, the method has fewer side-effects, Ling said.

星期二，中国一家医院宣称，医生用4D打印技术为一位乳腺癌患者进行了乳房重建。

陕西西安第四军医大学西京医院的血管外科医生凌瑞表示，该手术是在2016年8月8日进行的，打印的乳房在病人的组织上生长良好。

去年在进行这一手术之前，这位病人进行了左侧乳房切除手术。

凌医生表示，“与三维打印相比，4D打印加入了时间维度。”

医生收集了病人肿瘤和原乳房的尺寸等数据，然后用生物可降解材料进行了乳房重建。

该植入技术是由西京医院与西安交通大学的一个国家实验室共同研制的。

西京医院参与该手术的助理教授张聚良表示，“重建的乳房很强健，而且在设定的时间内就会降解，对于这位病人，降解将需要一到两年的时间。”

材料的可渗透性使人体组织可以在植入体中生长，最终替代该植入体，张教授说道。

“自手术起十个月之后，植入体生长良好，而且病人的血管和组织开始重新长出来了，”凌医生说道。

凌医生表示，与现存的乳房重建术相比，这种方法的副作用更小。