Chinese surgeons have successfully implanted a ‘3-D printed’ vertebra into the spine of a 12-year-old boy suffering from bone cancer.

Made from titanium powder, the replacement vertebra incorporates tiny pores to allow the bone to grow into it. The surgery took five hours in total, and doctors claim that it is the first of its kind.

Several months ago, the boy injured his neck by heading a football. After examining his spine, doctors realised that he had a rare bone cancer and that a malignant tumour was growing in his second vertebra. This bone, which helps to protect the spine and support the body, had to be removed and replaced.

Liu Zhongjun — the director of Peking’s Orthopaedics Department where the operation took place — explains that this unique design allowed doctors to avoid the screws and cements used in traditional implants, which can sometimes become detached years later.

“Using existing technology, the patient’s head needs to be framed with pins after surgery; but with 3-D printing technology, we can simulate the shape of the vertebra, which is much stronger and more convenient than traditional methods.”

Custom 3-D printed bones and teeth are set to be one of the big areas of growth for the technology, with Cambridge research firm IDTechEx estimating that this market will be worth $6 billion by 2025.

Additive manufacturing, as 3-D printing is also known, has proved particularly useful in cases where an unusual body part is needed as quickly as possible. In 2011, researchers in Belgium printed a jaw for a woman who had lost hers because of an infection. Organs are expected next — starting with the pancreas or liver.