Dubai-based doctors have succeeded in saving the life of a 60-year-old Omani woman who suffered from a cerebral aneurysm with the help of a custom 3D-printed model of the patient’s brain dilated arteries.The patient was admitted to Rashid Hospital after suffering from severe bleeding in the brain due a cerebrovascular disorder in which the weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery causes a ballooning of the blood vessel.Dr Abdullah Qasim, consultant and head of Neurosurgery at Rashid Hospital, said that an X-ray found that the patient suffered from cerebral aneurysm in not one but four veins.“Due to the complexity and rarity of the patient’s case we needed a 3D model that will allow us to understand exactly how we can reach the arteries in a safe way. This helps us reduce risk because we can’t imagine the problem without the 3D model,” said Qasim.After studying the model, Dr Ayman Al Sibaei, interventional radiologist at Rashid Hospital conducted a six-hour surgery. The patient was transferred to the ICU where she is recovering.Qasim said: “Without the 3D model the surgery would have taken longer and the risk would have been higher because it would have meant conducting the surgery with limited understanding of the abnormality. The patient is recovering well."Dr Mohammad Al Redha, director of the Department of Organisational Transformation, said this is not the first time that the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has conducted a complex surgery with the aid of 3D printing. Doctors have previously succeeded in removing a tumour from a patient’s kidney with the help of a cutting-edge aid — a custom 3D-printed organ to help plan the complex surgery last December.Al Redha said the DHA is planning to further use 3D printing in medical care in Dubai.