Pectus surgeon who started out by making these models for my patients, and now offering them to anyone looking to purchase a model of their chest.
Since starting work as a pediatric surgeon, I've been drawn to treating patients with complex chest issues. At our hospital, we perform a large variety of operations, such as pectus excavatum/carinatum repair, removal of rib or lung tumors, and diaphragm repair.
Treating kids with pectus excavatum is very rewarding, watching these kids become confident and proud of the way they look. After a while I started looking for ways to help them commemorate that.
When I was a kid, my parents didn't have dental insurance. I had pretty crooked teeth, and it really affected the way I felt about myself. I wasn't able to get braces until the day I graduated high school. There's no sign of my teeth in any picture of me before age 20 (when my braces were removed). The dentist gave me a mold of what my teeth looked like before treatment to show how far I had come, and I thought that was really awesome. I wanted to give the pectus kids something they could remember their old chest by.
I have been giving these to my pectus patients the day they complete treatment for a few years now. Everyone so far has been incredibly grateful and excited. After posting a few of these online, I received a lot of requests to sell them.
I don't really expect to get fabulously wealthy by selling custom skeletons, but hopefully I'll make enough to recoup my expenses and continue to give these to my patients free of charge. The prices listed represent about $20 worth of raw materials and around 5-6 hours worth of labor (depending on the version you choose). Hopefully I can help give more people something to mark their progress as they progress through treatment.
See how these models are made on my YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/SiTEgv6QFo0