Fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Holmes, MD, successfully performed an ankle replacement with a 3D printed titanium implant, reports Fox 10 Phoenix.
Four things to know:
1. The patient survived leukemia and a bone marrow transplant but suffered from avascular necrosis due to his cancer treatment, which causes bones to die.
2. Dr. Holmes completed the new surgery with the 3D printed implant at Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, Ariz., and saved the patient from having to amputate his foot.
3. The implant was created by taking a CT scan of the patient's other ankle and designing a mirror image of it using a solid piece of titanium.
4. Dr. Holmes specializes in advanced foot and ankle reconstruction, sports medicine and total ankle replacements among other procedures. He completed his fellowship training at The Core Institute in Arizona.