So. An unnamed patient in the US had 75 percent of his skull replaced by a 3-D printed prosthetic, according to news.com.au (via Engadget, via Gizmodo).
In case you're confused -- as I was on first glance -- the prosthetic is the darker part. The rest of the plastic skull just shows how it fits. Which makes the whole thing slightly less exciting that if everything you see in the image is what was surgically inserted into the guy's head. Essentially, it's like a metal plate, except, well, plastic.
The article doesn't mention why the man needed so much of his skull replaced, only that the technology allows Connecticut-based Oxford Performance Materials to produce custom prostheses "to replace bone damaged by disease or trauma." To get a custom piece, the patient's skull is first scanned by "a 3D scanner" (MRI, maybe?).
I vaguely remember reading another story some time ago about someone who had had his skull scanned and a 3-D printed version made. He didn't need it for a prosthesis, he just wanted something cool to have on his desk. I would love to have a plastic model of my own skull on my desk.
Image © Oxford Performance Materials.
