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Surgeons are using 3D printers to reshape this girl's face

Violet Pietrok was born with a rare genetic condition.

Boston Children's Hospital / YouTube

A TWO YEAR old American girl has had her face rebuilt by surgeon using revolutionary 3D printing techniques.

Violet Pietrok was born as a twin, but was born with a rare condition called Tessier facial cleft. As a foetus, the bones in Violet’s face never fused, leaving her with a gap in her face and no cartilage in her nose.

Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital managed to reshape her face using a replica of her skull printed from an MRI. The models allowed the surgical team test how they were going to rebuild Violet’s skull without interfering with brain or nerve function.

In the past, doing so would have been hugely expensive, but these four models cost just €1,000.

Dr John Meara, one of Violet’s surgical team, says in a video for the hospital that the models were invaluable.

“This gives me the ability to see on this model better than I will in the operating room.”

The surgical journey is detailed in a series of videos on the hospital’s website, with Violet’s mother Alicia Taylor telling ABC News that her daughter is back to herself after the surgery.

“She’s fantastic. She’s so happy all the time. If she’s not smiling, she’s generally asleep or throwing a fit.”

Violet has a long road of surgeries ahead of her, but her mother says that she is “blessed” to have received the help and support she has so far.

Boston Children's Hospital / YouTube

Read: 3D printed guns are useless says a firearms expert

Read: Amazon opens up 3D printing store for creating personalised items

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8 Comments
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    Mute Darren Davis
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:16 PM

    Thanks for the recipes. The soup was lovely, I’ll try the compost one for lunch tomorrow

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    Mute Mal
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    Jan 12th 2019, 1:11 PM

    Thanks that does sound simple

    29
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    Mute ianglen
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:23 PM

    Neighbour put out a compost bin last at back of house and the rats had a field day.
    Put it as far away from your house if you can..

    14
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    Mute Brian McCarthy
    Favourite Brian McCarthy
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    Jan 13th 2019, 4:20 PM

    @ianglen: you’re putting the wrong stuff in the composter
    if it’s attracting rats

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    Mute Sean
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:59 PM

    Composting is amazing all right. Did you know that you can get rid of a 1000 pound cow in just six weeks by covering it in eight cubic yards of wood mulch? Basic recipe. Place the carcass on a bed of wood chips 2 feet deep, then cover it to a depth of about 4 feet, with at least 2 feet on the sides.It doesn’t attract flies or vermin or smell. It just disappears! All you are left with is some large bones.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jan 12th 2019, 3:22 PM

    @Sean: How many suburban and town gardeners have got a 1000 pound dead cow to begin with?

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Jan 12th 2019, 4:18 PM

    @Garreth Byrne: i think this may have started as a Dublin gangster technique that eventually got adapted to farm animals.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jan 12th 2019, 6:59 PM

    @WoodlandBard: I see. So composted dead cows and composted dead gangstas are equally effective in organic vegetable gardening, eh? IOFGA and the Soil Association might have reservations.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:48 PM

    Dampening it down with a bleach mix every so often gets rid of the smell and kills off the yucky bugs and insects

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    Mute Ryan Dub
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    Jan 12th 2019, 5:26 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: Do not put bleach in the garden.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Jan 12th 2019, 5:44 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: would you tuck into a nice glass of bleach? If your answer is no, then do not put it on any compost that you intend to use for growing food. Also, if your compost smells that badly it means you’re doing it completely wrong.

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    Mute helen walsh
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    Jan 12th 2019, 4:45 PM

    Yes, how do you keep vermin away from compost heaps, their urine and droppings are bound to infect the compost heap…

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    Mute silentbob2012
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    Jan 13th 2019, 12:00 AM

    @helen walsh: simple. It’s not a black art.Everything for your compost heap must be uncooked and plant based. That means no cooked foods, no fats, no carbs, no oils. Egg shells excepted but it helps to break them down before chucking ‘em on your compost. Mix in cardboard, unbleached paper and newspaper from time to time, layered grass clippings, any garden vegetation as in the article above and away you go. If you’ve got rats or mice, you’ve been putting in foodstuffs.

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    Mute datagharch
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    Sep 18th 2019, 8:41 AM

    thanks alot

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    Mute David Cagney
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    Jan 13th 2019, 10:40 AM

    I don’t have a square yard, it’s more rectangular, with a circular end – so none of this is going to work.

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    Mute Ciarán Mac Cormaic
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    Jan 13th 2019, 4:55 PM

    @David Cagney: You might still be able to have the soup.

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