3D printing is awesome. Whether it’s making microfish that swim through your body to rid it of toxin and give it drugs, or just making some delicious, customized candy, the future is incredibly bright when it comes to 3D printing. Science has of course taken the technology and run with it, making the aforementioned microfish, as well as a laundry list of other innovations that have helped humans live healthier, longer lives. So, the question is, what will be the next world-first accomplishment achieved through 3D printing?

A Spanish cancer patient has received a 3D-printed titanium sternum and rib cage designed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), a federal government agency for scientific research in Australia. The cancer patient suffered from chest wall sarcoma — a type of cancerous tumor that grew, in this case, around the rib cage. When the 54-year-old man needed a portion of his rib cage and his entire sternum replaced, the surgical team decided that a 3D-printed replacement would be the best option.

The 3D-printed replacement was created by a Melbourne-based medical device company called Anatomics, who used CSIRO’s 3D printing facility to create the implant.

According to Alex Kingsbury, the additive manufacturing research leader at CSIRO, “the way they came up with the design, they had these pieces go over the bone, and you could screw through the bone. So it’s attached really securely.”

The reason that 3D printing was used instead of a generic piece of titanium was that the implant needed to be customized. Since no human body is the same, every implant is going to be different.