Idea Watch 3D Printed Organs With 3D printing, organs can be printed incorporating the cells of patients, practically negating the need in the future for patients to have to wait for compatible donors. The story of baby Kaiba is illustrative. Kaiba was born prematurely in 2011 with insufficiently developed lungs. In order to maintain blood oxygen levels he was put on a ventilator, but even that wasn’t enough as Kaiba’s windpipe kept collapsing. Doctors from the University of Michigan then made use of a 3D printer to make a bioresorbable splint to reinforce the baby’s windpipe. Prior to the operation, Kaiba wasn’t expected to leave the hospital. Sixteen months later he had the splint removed and has continued developing into a healthy boy.
3D Printing In the Automotive Industry Companies such as General Motors and Ford have made use of 3D printing for car parts. GM has made use of stereo lithography, math data, laser sintering, and specialized software to build parts of the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu from liquid resin to improve the quality of the vehicle.
3D Printing In the Aerospace Industry
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Recently, NASA made use of 3D printing to make a rocket engine injector. This was so successful that they now plan to take a 3D printer to the International Space Station to set up a mini factory for customized spacecraft and instrument parts.
3D Printed Gun
Liberator is the name of a gun made using the 3D printer, designed and manufactured by Defense Distributed, a nonprofit digital publisher and 3D Printing R&D firm. Fifteen out of its sixteen parts are made of 3D printed plastic.
3D Printed Prosthetics
Feathered Angels Waterfall Sanc-
Issue 10 - OCTOBER 2015
tuary went to the aid of Buttercup, a duck born with a deformed foot. Born in a high school biology lab, Buttercup was unable to walk properly and was in constant pain from the deformity. After the foot was amputated, technicians used detailed photographs of the duck’s other foot to create a silicon replacement on a 3D printer. The foot is kept in place using Winters Gel, a jelly-like material that adheres the artificial foot to Buttercup’s leg. Elsewhere, an 83-year old woman required a lower jaw replacement due to a severe infection. Doctors created a titanium replacement using a 3D laser printer, which was then coated with a bioceramic material. The patient was able to speak a few words shortly after waking up from surgery, and was able to talk and eat the following day. The medical community is excited by the promise of 3D printed prosthetic devices that can be made from porous titanium structures, allowing bone in-growth in addition to better
fit and more precise attachment to natural body parts. Further, with 3D printing the cost of prosthetic devices is lower than with other methods of manufacture and post-surgery recovery time is significantly reduced.
3D Printing As A Way to Help the Senses Scientists at Princeton University have made a bionic ear with the help of a 3D printer. This bionic ear enables users to hear even better than with the natural human ear. Yahoo! is also working with Hakuhodo Kettle in Japan, a creative agency that is lending a hand at a school for the blind. There, Yahoo! is involved in teaching children to make use of a hands-on search machine for web browsing. This machine combines a MakerBot 3D printer with voice recognition technology so that voice queries can be turned to physical objects.
3D Printing Outside of the Manufacturing Sector Personal Printing 3D printers started becoming popular for personal use by many enthusiasts and hobbyists in 2011.
However, with so much development and vastly reduced costs nowadays, the technology is becoming widespread in every area of business and personal use.