08-05-2015 07:00

Two doctors who work at a university hospital in Michigan, USA, kept seeing babies die. The babies were dying because air could not pass into their lungs – their airways were not strong. The doctors wanted to help the babies.

They met one baby who was going to die very soon from this problem. They gave him a 3D printed airway splint. The splint kept his airway open, will grow with him, and later will dissolve so nothing will stay in his airway.

It is three years later and that baby, along with two more babies who had the same problem, is happy and healthy.

Difficult words: airway (air passes through this from your mouth to your lungs), splint (a thing that holds something), dissolve (to turn into nothing).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.