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One reason Holy Name podiatric surgeon Dr. Peter Iannuzzi is still practicing in his 70s: He was able to help a woman walk without a limp by repairing her foot and ankle with a custom, 3D-printed, titanium implant.

"Technology is great," he said. "Things I can do now, I was not able to do before. It seemed more barbaric. Now, it's more refined and technologically advanced. We have all the tools to do it. I think it's great, and I am loving it more than ever."

Late last year, Iannuzzi implanted the 3D-printed bone during surgery on a woman in her 50s who had hurt her ankle about three years before. It's the first time he or anyone in the Holy Name system had performed a surgery using a 3D-printed foot and ankle. Holy Name is in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Iannuzzi added that he has not done any more 3D-printed bone surgeries since, mainly since insurance would not cover it due to the cost, nor have any other doctors in the Holy Name system.

The woman's injury amounted to a sprain, but she had chronic pain that was getting worse. An MRI revealed a vascular necrosis, a decrease in blood supply to the bone.

"So the bone, essentially, was dying," he said.

Options included micro drilling, where Iannuzzi could puncture the bone to see if the blood supply returns — something that's usually unsuccessful, he said. Another option would include removing the dead bone, putting in a bone graft, and infusing the heel bone to the graft to the tibia, he explained. The graft is usually genetically engineered, and he manually models it to fit the bone during the surgery.

But just two weeks prior to meeting with the woman, he read about the possibility of 3D printing a titanium alloy bone and ankle joint for the woman.

He contacted a company he had used before, Denver-based Paragon 28, and learned it could create one for her. Iannuzzi presented the option to the woman, and she was willing.

The woman had CAT scans on the area to get the measurements and also underwent a gait analysis. It took several weeks to fabricate the bone. During that time, Iannuzzi was in touch with the biomedical engineer to make variations.

"This is so technologically advanced, it's incredible," he said, adding the implant is exactly the same as the joint that he had taken out. This allowed him to better plan for what to do during surgery and reduced the risk of complications for the patient.

The big difference in making the implant, Iannuzzi said, is that he was able to give the patient a new ankle joint, which allows her to move her ankle without pain.

"Without this surgery, this patient would have limped for the rest of her life," he said.

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon uses 3D printing lab to advance care in new ways.