WASHINGTON (TIP): Scientists have for the first time successfully implanted a groundbreaking 3D-printed device to save the lives of three babies in the US suffering from a life-threatening condition that prevents normal breathing.

All the three babies had the same life-threatening condition: a terminal form of tracheobronchomalacia, which causes the windpipe to periodically collapse and prevents normal breathing. There was no cure and life-expectancies were grim, researchers said.

The three boys became the first in the world to benefit from groundbreaking 3D printed devices that helped keep their airways open, restored their breathing and saved their lives at the University of Michigan’s CS Mott Children’s Hospital.

“These cases broke new ground for us because we were able to use 3D printing to design a device that restored patients’ breathing through a procedure that had never been done before,” said author Glenn Green, from the CS Mott Children’s Hospital. “Before this procedure, babies with severe tracheobronchomalacia had little chance of surviving. Today, our first patient Kaiba is an active, healthy 3-year-old in preschool with a bright future. The device worked better than we could have ever imagined,” said Green.

The findings also show that the patients were able to come off of ventilators and no longer needed paralytics, narcotics and sedation.