Doctors have turned to 3D printing to help save a toddler's brain.

Gabriel Mandeville was only five years old when he started having seizures known as "Mind Erasers" that made him forget everything he had ever learned.

His mother, Erin, noticed that something was seriously wrong with Gabriel when she saw her son's eyes roll backwards during these seizures.

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Doctors at Boston's Children's Hospital tried all sorts of medicines and procedures to help quell the seizures. Gabriel's seizures, however, began to worsen.

Eventually, doctors recommended a procedure called a hemispherectomy.

The procedure is complicated and dangerous. It aims to separate the healthy half of the brain from the part causing the seizures.

Despite it being an invasive and difficult procedure, Erin agreed to the hemispherectomy, hoping it could help her son.

What also helped clinch her decision to go through with the procedure was know,ing her son would be the first patient to have his brain replicated by a 3D printed brain. Doctors decided to first go through practice runs before the actual operation.

Dr. Joseph Madsen, director of the epilepsy program at Boston's Children Hospital, said the hemispherectomy is one of the most challenging procedures in pediatric epilepsy surgery.

The 3D printed brain models helped surgeons hold, cut, manipulate, and practice the procedure beforehand.

"No one wants to be the first person to get a hemispherectomy from a surgeon, ever," Dr. Madsen said.

The 3D model of Gabriel's brain was developed at the hospital's Simulator Program that has been running since 2001. The program focuses on preparing and testing various facets of medical care.

The 3D model was printed in soft plastic and had 16 microns per layer. The blood vessels were set in contrast color for easier navigation. The model was good enough to allow surgeons to be more familiar with Gabriel's brain.

Gabriel's surgery took close to 10 hours. Gabriel  is now 18 months-old and free of any seizures.

This 3D medical project has since developed 100 prints. Of this number, 20 percent found their their way into surgery rooms and assisted in successful operations.

Tags3D Printing, Gabriel Mandeville, Erin Mandeville, Boston's Children's Hospital, Dr. Joseph Madsen, Seizures, Mind-erasers