[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8851]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          MICHIGAN'S GOOD NEWS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, much of what we read today in newspapers or 
on the Internet, much of what we hear on TV, much of what dominates our 
national conversation and our conversation here in the Senate is bad 
news. And it's understandable in a way that we're focused on righting 
wrongs and debating the solutions to problems. But too often we lose 
sight of the remarkable accomplishments and uplifting stories that are 
every bit as much a feature of the human condition as conflict and 
tragedy.
  With that in mind, I want to alert my colleagues to an 
extraordinarily good-news story from right in my home State of 
Michigan. There, experts at the University of Michigan's CS Mott 
Children's Hospital, recently broke important new ground in treating a 
rare but life-threatening condition, and made an enormous difference in 
the lives of one little boy and his family.
  At just 3 months old, Kaiba Gionfriddo's life was in danger. The Ohio 
baby was threatened by an unusual weakening of the wall of his 
bronchus, the passage leading to his lungs. His condition caused him to 
stop breathing, and his physicians worried that the condition would 
prove fatal. But they knew that doctors and engineers at the University 
of Michigan were working to develop a new treatment that offered hope.
  At UM, pediatrician Dr. Glenn Green and biomechanical engineering 
professor Scott Hollister were working on a groundbreaking procedure. 
Alerted to young Kaiba's condition, they went to work. Kaiba was 
airlifted from his Ohio hospital to Ann Arbor, and the UM team went to 
work.
  Their ingenious idea combined several important technologies. They 
used high-resolution imaging to create a detailed picture of Kaiba's 
airway. Through computer-aided design techniques and the use of a 
three-dimensional printer, they created a customized tracheal splint to 
support the weakened walls of his bronchus and allow him to breathe. 
And they fashioned this device out of a bioresorbable polymer that will 
be absorbed by Kaiba's body by the age of four, after it has given his 
body time to form a stronger breathing passage.
  There are many heroes in this story: Kaiba's parents, who moved 
heaven and earth for their son while dealing with the fear that they 
might lose him; the Ohio physicians who searched for solutions to a 
difficult case; of course, Dr. Green and Professor Hollister and their 
team at UM; and, not to be forgotten, the countless researchers, 
engineers, and developers who put remarkable technological tools such 
as high-resolution imaging, computer-aided design, and 3D printing in 
the hands of the UM experts. A year after his procedure, Kaiba's mother 
April says her son is doing well. ``He's getting himself into trouble 
nowadays,'' she said in a newspaper interview. ``He scoots across the 
floor and gets into everything.''
  It's a remarkable story--but every day, countless Americans are 
engaged in similar efforts to help loved ones, neighbors, patients, 
even total strangers they will never know or meet. The combination of 
remarkable ingenuity and public spirit are defining characteristics of 
our Nation, and so long as they remain, there is nothing Americans 
cannot accomplish. As we focus on the problems we need to solve and the 
challenges we face and the flood of negative and discouraging news, I 
hope we will also keep in mind the remarkable good news that also 
happens every day and take inspiration from it.

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