A Queensland man is the first person in the world to get a new shin bone created with a 3D printer.
Reuben Lichter, 27, faced losing his leg after an infection which rotted the majority of the bone in his leg.
The infection went undiagnosed for four months before the tibia bone was removed in March while medical teams at Princess Alexandra Hospital grew a new bone using pioneering technology.
Reuben Lichter (pictured with son William) is the first person in the world to get a new shin bone created with a 3D printer
The Queensland man has the possibility of losing his leg before Christmas last year after an infection rotted the shin bone
Mr Lichter’s tibia was removed and after five operations, the new 3D printed tibia bone was successfully inserted (pictured)
A new tibia was grown with a 3D printer, using what was left of his bone and nerves from Mr Lichter’s left leg, his fiance Caity Bell wrote on her gofundme page.
Unsure of how long it would take to produce the new bone, Ms Bell said until now, the process had only been ‘tried on sheep’.
Just two days after Mr Lichter’s newborn son was born, he went to hospital, where he stayed for a month before having five operations over six months.
The final transplant operation lasted 14 hours in late August.
Now the 36 centimetre 3D printed bone has been transplanted, it will act as a prop so a new bone can grow, saving his leg.
Ms Bell said while the last eight months had been scary and difficult, she couldn’t wait for her finance to be able to carry their son.
The pioneering technology meant a prop (pictured) was inserted into Mr Lichter’s leg which a new bone can use to regrow
Mr Lichter had to undergo five surgeries over the space of six months, with the 3D printed bone transplant lasting 14 hours
The 36 centimetre 3D printed bone (pictured) means the 27-year-old’s leg has been saved and he will one day walk again
The X-ray scan (pictured) of Mr Lichter’s leg shows the 3D-printed tibia transplant, world first surgery shaping the future
The surgery was performed by medical teams at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital after infection first rotted the bone
‘Reuben has never been able to pick his son up and carry him … or throw him up in the air, making Will squeal with excitement,’ she wrote.
‘They seem like such small things in every day life, but missing out on the little things like that always hit the hardest.’
Although the operation was successful, the 27-year-old father has a long recovery road ahead, with doctors expecting it will be 18 months before he can walk again, according to Fairfax Media.
Mr Lichter told the publication his now eight-month-old son William would be walking before he does.
‘If there was a chance for me to save my leg and do the things I want to do with my son, then I was going to take it,’ he said.
The 27-year-old went to hospital just two days after his now eight-month-old son William was born (both pictured Friday)
Mr Lichter, expected to walk again in at least 18 months time, told the Fairfax Media his son would be walking before he does
‘If there was a chance for me to save my leg and do the things I want to do with my son, then I was going to take it,’ he said