Bespoke Bones

5/8 Pratt School of Engineering

Ken Gall uses a patient's CT scans to customize a 3D-printed titanium implant

titanium scaffold
Bespoke Bones

Ken Gall, Duke Engineering’s new associate dean for entrepreneurship and the founder of 3D printing company restor3d, was recently charged with designing and printing a custom titanium implant for a young patient who had suffered critical damage to a bone in her lower leg during a vehicle accident.

“Many centers would have probably amputated,” said Duke orthopaedic surgeon Samuel Adams, MD. “I immediately thought of implanting a 3D-printed cage to replace the lost bone.”

Working with Adams, Gall’s group used the patient’s CT scans to inform the fabrication and design of a scaffold that can support the patient’s weight while she heals and grows new bone around the titanium structure. 

Read about the outcome on Duke Clinical Practice Today.