In a remarkable example depicting how 3-D printers might customize medical care, doctors turned powdered plastic into tiny devices. These devices saved the lives of three baby boys by holding open defective airways so that they can breathe.

Actually, these experimental airway splints change shape over time. Meghan Orbich, mother of Ian Orbich, said that his airways are akin to a noodle and they are soft, so the littlest thing can cause his airway to fully collapse.

He was born with an uncommon condition called tracheobronchomalacia that caused his airways to be as small as a coffee straw or the tip of a pen. According to Meghan Orbich, she saw an article on Facebook related to the uncommon surgery where University of Michigan doctors utilize a 3-D printer in order to create a custom splint that goes on the outside and holds the airway open. He was one of the three children in the country to receive the procedure.

"We are using laser light to transform dust into medical devices that change how the body develops. It is a concept that would have been inconceivable not too many years ago", said lead researcher Dr. Glenn Green, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist at the University of Michigan.

Team of Glenn was in headlines in 2013 with first success in treating the first baby, Kaiba Gionfriddo. Promising results have been published with two other youngsters, plus long-term tests showing that Kaiba, now a thriving 3- year-old, appears cured because the splint that once helped him breathe is dissolving right on time.

According to researchers, their next team is working with the Food and Drug Administration in order to start clinical trial testing the 3-D printed devices in 30 children with a similar problem. It has been reported that all three boys are improving significantly.