For children born with rare windpipe defects, every breath is a battle for survival. Now, a groundbreaking innovation from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is transforming these children’s lives. Researchers have developed a 3D printed tracheal splint that gives young patients like 4-year-old Justice Altidore a chance to breathe easier.

3D printed tracheal splint. Image courtesy of Rob Felt/Georgia Tech.

Altidore was born with tracheomalacia (TM), a condition where the cartilage in the trachea is weak, causing the windpipe’s walls to collapse and restrict breathing. Affecting about 1 in every 2,100 children, TM turns simple acts like breathing into a constant struggle and can lead to life-threatening respiratory issues.

Traditional treatments often don’t work well, and many children have to spend long periods on ventilators. Being on a ventilator means they rely on a machine to breathe for them, which disrupts their daily lives and limits their ability to do normal activities for both the child and their family.

Recognizing the urgent need for a more effective solution, a team of experts at Georgia Tech engineered a bioabsorbable tracheal splint. This innovative device acts like a cast for the windpipe, holding the trachea open and allowing the child’s cartilage to develop properly over time.

Made from biodegradable material, the splint is custom-designed using 3D printing to fit the unique anatomy of each patient’s trachea. As the tracheal cartilage strengthens, the splint gradually dissolves, eliminating the need for additional surgeries to remove it.

3D printed tracheal splints. Image courtesy of Rob Felt/Georgia Tech.

Kevin Maher, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and a professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, along with Steven Goudy, a pediatric otolaryngologist, oversaw the treatment of Justice and three other children who received the custom tracheal splints as part of a Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved expanded access trial. The results have been remarkable, said Georgia Tech.

“All four have seen substantial improvements in their respiratory capabilities, and the unprecedented results suggest a new era of care for the narrow field has arrived,” explained Georgia Tech.

Scott Hollister with the 3D printed tracheal splint. Image courtesy of Georgia Tech.

It’s not the first time 3D printing has been used to help tracheal recovery. In fact, the journey to this breakthrough has been years in the making. Back in 2012, Scott Hollister and Glenn Green at the University of Michigan developed the first 3D printed, bioresorbable tracheal splint. They implanted it in a three-month-old baby named Kaiba Gionfriddo, who was suffering from severe tracheobronchomalacia—a condition causing his airways to collapse. This groundbreaking medical advancement made national headlines and offered hope to families with children facing similar life-threatening conditions.

After moving to Georgia Tech, Hollister continued his pioneering work. He now directs both the Tissue Engineering and Mechanics Laboratory (Hollister Lab) and the Center for 3D Medical Fabrication (3DMedFab). Together, these entities focus on developing patient-specific medical devices using advanced 3D printing technologies.

The 3D MedFab team. Image courtesy of the Hollister Lab at Georgia Tech.

In 2017, his lab re-engineered the airway splint to treat tracheal agenesis in a newborn named Ramiah Martin. Born without a trachea—a condition almost always fatal—Ramiah became the first patient to receive a 3D printed tracheal replacement splint for this specific condition. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of her medical team at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and the innovative technology developed at Georgia Tech, she was given a chance at life.

Ramiah Martin. Image courtesy of Leanne Martin/Georgia Tech.

The Hollister Lab designs these life-saving devices using image-based, patient-specific modeling. They use imaging data like CT scans and MRIs to create precise digital models of each patient’s unique anatomy. Once the custom design is finalized, 3DMedFab brings it to life using state-of-the-art 3D printing equipment.

One of their key pieces of equipment is the EOS P110 laser sintering system, which uses powdered polycaprolactone (PCL) to fabricate complex, bioresorbable scaffolds and medical devices suitable for human clinical applications. This machine offers high precision and rapid production speeds, which are essential for creating life-saving devices in urgent medical situations. The 3DMedFab also can produce other medically relevant scaffolds, including those for the ear, nose, and larynx.

In addition to the EOS machine, the lab employs specialized bioprinters, such as the 3D-Bioplotter by EnvisionTEC (part of Desktop Health) and Cellink’s Inkredible+ Bioprinter, to print biodegradable polymers and shape-memory elastomers. These materials are crucial for creating splints that not only support the trachea but also degrade safely within the body over time.

The lab’s arsenal includes other advanced printers like the Stratasys J750, which produces high-quality surgical models from scanned patient anatomy, assisting physicians in preparing for complex surgeries. The Stratasys F170 is typically employed to create tools and fixtures for lab use. For projects requiring high-resolution and specialized materials, they turn to vat photopolymerization printers like the Lumen X Bioprinter by Cellink and the Form 2 by Formlabs.

By integrating research, design, and fabrication under Hollister’s leadership, Georgia Tech is at the forefront of developing innovative medical devices that save lives. The collaborative efforts of the Hollister Lab and 3DMedFab have led to over 25 devices being implanted in patients for the treatment of tracheobronchomalacia, offering new hope to children suffering from severe airway conditions.

Surgeons used 3D printed tracheal splints to help a 7-month-old with life-threatening breathing issues. Image courtesy of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Beyond the cases of Justice Altidore and Ramiah Martin, the lab has produced customized splints for more children suffering from severe airway conditions like TM and tracheal agenesis. Each patient’s story adds to the growing evidence in favor of innovative devices produced using advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing.

Since each splint is individually designed to match the unique anatomy of each child’s windpipe, this personalized approach has been key in saving lives and significantly improving the quality of life for these young patients. For children like Altidore and Martin, it means a chance at an everyday life—a chance to run, play, and breathe without being afraid.

Looking ahead, the team wants to expand access to this life-saving technology. With further clinical trials and FDA approvals, the hope is that 3D printed tracheal splints will become a standard treatment option for children with TM and other severe airway conditions.