MASSDEVICE ON CALL — In a breakthrough surgery a team of physicians at Peking University implanted a 3D-printed vertebra for the 1st time in a 12-year-old boy with a malignant tumor on his spinal cord.

The doctors replaced a piece of the patient’s spine with 3D-printed material, shaping the implant with pores that will allow bones to grow in and hold it in place. Because 3D-printing allows for new, more complex-shaped implants, doctors didn’t need any screws or cement to hold the artificial vertebra in place, Forbes reported.

"Although the probability is very low, it is possible that under long-term pressure from inside the body, traditional implants might plug into bones gradually, or become detached from bones. But there will be no such problems for 3-D printed implants," Peking University orthopedics department director Liu Zhongjun told the paper.

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