Using the 3D printing technology, Doctors of University of Michigan successfully performed a surgery on a foetus. The unknown abnormality could have block the baby's airway at birth, but 3D Printed model of foetus face using MRI removed the guesswork of the surgery.

Ten year-old Casey Doyle was diagnosed with Synovial cell sarcoma, whose 3D Printed model he first smashed at University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Later, Surgeons at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital removed the tumor in March, and helping get him another 3-D model replica of his tumor using MRI and polylactic acid.

The University of Michigan has partnered with Altair Engineering and Stratasys to form the CYBER team and work together to leverage 3D printing and Industry 4.0 to transform Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFO). To accomplish this, the CYBER team will create the digital workflow for additive manufacturing (AM) design, while connecting the digital thread in a cloud-based cyber physical system.

Law enforcement officers approached the 3D Print Lab of Anil Jain, a professor at Michigan State University seeking help in solving a murder case using the 3D Print Technology. Police believed that scans of the victim’s fingerprints from a previous arrest could help unlock his phone and might provide clues as to who killed him.

8-Year old Michael Bell was suffering with Moebius Syndrome, a neurological disorder that left him without his left arm. However, he received a 3D Printed Hand from CMU’s MakerBot Innovation Center, Breckenridge where Austin Brittain created the device for him using the e-NABLE template. The device was named Phoneix hand and costs less than $100.

Anecdotal evidence had suggested that high-impact activities, such as roller coaster riding or bungee jumping, could result in spontaneous passage of kidney stones, however 3D printing has now been used to validate the efficacy of a trip to Magic Mountain next time you suffer from kidney stones.  A study was conducted at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine where Dr. David D. Wartinger performed research on whether roller coaster rides can actually facilitate kidney stone passage. A 3D replica of a patient’s kidney was printed in clear silicone material and then was monitored with ureteroscopy during a roller coaster ride. The results verified that roller coaster rides can assist kidney stone passage.

The CYBER Team, or Cyber-Physical Design and Additive Manufacturing of Custom Orthoses, is funded by America Makes, the national accelerator for 3D printing and additive manufacturing based in Youngstown, Ohio, and was formed in 2016 by Stratasys, the University of Michigan, and Altair Engineering, aiming at Orthotic needs for Veterans. The CYBER Team is working on project, with a total budget of $2 million to combine cloud-based designs and Stratasys’ FDM technology to reduce orthotic outpatient visits from three to one by developing 3D printing-specific functionality, built on optimization software package Altair OptiStruct and OptiStruct for digitalization.

Researchers at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan, announced their pioneering project of creating a Portable Artificial Lung using 3D Printing. The wearable CO2 removal device for Veteran rehabilitation from lung disease is part of a two-year grant project, whose parts will be printed on a Stratasys J750 and Stereolithography 3D printers for other smaller parts. The project is expected to unfold by five to six years, where they will test the lung into a cohort of sheep using the cannulation technique, after which the sheep will be under anaesthesia for six hours, followed by chronic implantation where the sheep will be taken out of anaesthesia and monitored for 30 days.