New 3D Printing Technologies Improve Pediatric Osteotomy Planning

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of new 3D-printed patient-specific radius and ulna osteotomy guides for children aged seven years and older will help orthopedic surgeons plan and carry out complex surgery.

The 3D-printed guides are intended for use with 3D pre-operative planning to help surgeons improve the planning processes before pediatric surgery and help them during the surgery. Until now surgeons have used 2D X-Ray imaging for pediatric osteotomy planning. The 3D-printed guides are intended to benefit children with bone injuries, and those with natural deformities.


The 3D-printed guides were developed by Materialise, located in Leuven, Belgium. Materialise has more than 26 years of 3D printing experience, and offers a range of end-to-end 3D printing solutions for the orthopedic industry. Each 3D-printed surgical guide is patient-specific. Materialise also works with hospitals and surgeons around the world to develop and improve 3D-printed osteotomy guides for complex bone corrections in adults. With this US FDA approval Materialise can now also provide 3D-printed guides for use with pediatric surgery.

VP and GM of Materialise North America, Bryan Crutchfield, said, “In bringing this 3D printing technology to pediatric surgery, surgeons will have access to our clinical engineers’ wealth of experience developing osteotomy guides, helping them perform even the most complex bone corrections that will have a positive impact on the rest of the child’s life.”