Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Xue Renzheng correspondent Zhang Xunkai
The birth of a new life will bring joy to a family, but not all babies grow up smoothly. Some children will grow up with developmental deformities such as depressions in the chest or local protrusions, the so-called "chicken breasts" and "funnel breasts". In the face of this difficult problem, liu Zhen's team, chief physician of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, adopted new technologies, based on 3D printing technology, customized individualized funnel chest suction cups and chicken breast orthosises for children on the basis of conventional treatment, and many children's funnel chest and chicken breast deformities were significantly improved, easily resolving problems and escorting the growth of children.
Thoracic deformities in children may affect cardiopulmonary function
Funnel breast and chicken breast are the two most common breast developmental deformities. The funnel chest refers to the deformity of the sternum, rib cartilage and part of the ribs that are concave to the dorsal side, forming a funnel shape, and the chicken breast is protruding from the thoracic side.
Two common breast developmental deformities: funnel chest (left) and chicken breast (right)
It is understood that the incidence of funnel chest and chicken breast is about 0.1%-0.4%, the ratio of men and women is about 4:1, the causes of both are related to heredity, some are familial diseases, and other factors such as rib cartilage, ribs develop too fast or overgrowth, abnormal growth of the diaphragm muscle, abnormal breathing, can also be secondary to cardiopulmonary surgery or intrathopathic diseases.
"Mild funnel chest and chicken breast generally have no obvious symptoms, but when the lesion is severe, it will compress the heart and lung tissue, affect cardiopulmonary function, and even seriously affect life span." Liu Zhen introduced.
Some patients are weak and emaciated in early childhood, prone to repeated colds, respiratory infections, and physical activity ability is not as good as classmates; with the aggravation of the disease, there may be physical decline, chest tightness after activity, breathing difficulties and other symptoms, which is actually caused by cardiopulmonary tissue pressure and decreased cardiac blood output. Some patients develop symptoms of cardiopulmonary compression after aging, and can only be forced to change jobs or give up their jobs, which seriously affects normal life.
Traditional surgery is risky, and 3D printing is precise orthopedic for children
Since the funnel chest and chicken breast can cause cardiopulmonary abnormalities, surgery is required if the condition is severe. According to reports, the traditional treatment is mainly through minimally invasive surgery to place steel plates in the chest to correct the deformed chest wall. However, surgery has problems such as high treatment risks, high costs, and a certain chance of recurrence. Moreover, the efficacy of surgery for complex conditions such as compound thoracic deformity and scoliosis is difficult to evaluate, and there is a risk of recurrence.
In order to solve the problem of thoracic deformity, Liu Zhen, director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Third Hospital of Guangdong Medical College, together with multidisciplinary experts such as pediatrics and thoracic surgery, established a research and development team of digital intelligent manufacturing rehabilitation aids, and developed a funnel chest vacuum negative pressure suction cup and chicken breast orthosis based on 3D printing technology. The use of this orthoses for conservative treatment is achieved to reduce cardiopulmonary compression.
Scan with a 3D scanner
Liu Zhen introduced that the child should first undergo a detailed scientific assessment before treatment, and after checking the thoracic cage, it is also necessary to assess whether there are comorbid problems in the spine, pelvis, lower limbs, etc. Subsequently, a 3D scanner was used to scan the chest, shoulders and ribs, obtain the initial 3D model image of the chest, use software to design a reasonable computer model shape, and finally print the negative pressure suction cup and chicken breast orthosis through 3D printer printing.
In addition to using and wearing orthoses as required every day, children will also design a set of targeted exercise methods according to individual conditions to assist in treatment.
3D printing custom negative pressure suction cup, Director Liu Zhen demonstrated the operation of the child
Incorrect posture can cause or exacerbate deformities of bone development
In the process of growth and development, children often have imbalances in muscle and bone development, which will cause or aggravate bone development deformities if they are not corrected for a long time.
For example, some children's "inner eight" or "outer eight" may be caused by knee internal and external rotation, foot and foot turning; long-term study, as well as incorrect pen holding and writing posture, will cause the child's spine and chest to twist for a long time, and it is more likely to appear or aggravate the funnel chest and chicken breast.
Liu Zhen suggested: "Parents and teachers strictly manage the children's pen holding posture and sitting posture, especially the pen holding posture; in life, parents should observe whether the children's chest is sunken or protruding, whether there is a bad posture when walking, and find problems as early as possible to avoid delaying the disease." ”
He also mentioned that if the child is found to be suspected of having a funnel chest and chicken breast, parents do not need to be nervous, and it is recommended to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. In general, children with funnel chest disease over half a year old can be considered for correction, and chicken breast patients who are found to have affected the pelvis, lumbar spine and spine after evaluation also need to be actively treated. Surgical treatment is still required in patients with severe conditions and indications for surgery. (For more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Image | Hospital provided
Editor-in-charge | Chen Liang