A hospital in Beijing has finished the world's first axis surgery on a boy using a 3D-printed titanium alloy replacement.
12-year-old Ming Hao was diagnosed with a bone tumor called Ewing sarcoma on his cervical vertebra, mainly on the axis.
The tumour-eroded part of the axis had to be replaced, a procedure that is much more risky without 3-D printing technology.
The printed replacement was inserted during a 5-hour operation.
Ming Hao apparently is already able to stand, with some support, just days after the surgery.
