Medical 3D Printing & BioprintingDr Varun Tyagi is a medical doctor who practices in India and writes about remarkable and historical landmarks throughout the medical world. Dr Varun believes that 3D printing can help democratize medical care, making medical devices affordable and available to everyone on the planet.
Karissa Mitchell from New York, was born without her right hand, but students at Siena College helped her get 3D Printed Prosthetic Hand. The students, along with an eight-member team at e-NABLE, created a 3D-printed prosthetic hand in an ice blue color with decorative snowflakes to represent Mitchell’s favorite movie, Frozen.
At the corporate meeting in Tokyo, CEO Kaz Hirai of Sony announced establishment of a new Robot-Focused Organization in April. Targeting emotionally compelling experiences, Sony is planning to develop a robot capable of forming an emotional bond with customers.
Using an innovative 3D inkjet printing method, researchers from Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield have developed silk 'Micro-Rockets' which are biodegradable and harmless to biological system. Being just 300 microns in length and 100 microns in diameter, these silk-catalyst made rockets can be used for Drug delivery and locating cancer cells.
Open Source Stories, a new project from Red Hat Films, works to highlight those who are engaged in the open-source world and won the 2016 West Chester Film Festival Award for Best Documentary Film and Official Selection for the 2016 Reel to Reel International Film Festival’s Official Selection, Open Source Stories: e-NABLE. This documentary is currently being featured from June 27-June 30 at the Red Hat Summit, which is also being streamed live from their San Francisco event.
New York-based medical company, Vascular Simulations with help from Stratasys, has been utilizing 3D Printed Models to enhance the training and treatment methods for dealing with cardiovascular disease. To create 3D printed models, Vascular Simulations uses imaging data from CT scans or MRIs and converts them into silicone models with Stratasys Dimension Elite 3D Printer.
Yano De Laet was born with cerebral palsy but with help from 3D printed assistive devices, he is now able to walk with a new hands-free walker called the Hibbot. Hibbot is an ergonomic walking assistance system designed with collaboration between engineer Dirk Wenmakers and physiotherapist Ria Cuppers.
First 3D Printed Titanium Spinal Implant was successfully used in patient surnamed Yuan diagnosed with malignant tumor on his back. Performed at Beijing University Third Hospital, Dr. Liu Zhongjun explained how 3D Printing was the best option to be used for 19 cm replacement of backbone.
A group of German engineers at the University of Stuttgart led by Dr. Timo Gissibl have developed a process for creating a functional micro-camera lens. The triple lens optical head is only about 100 micrometers wide and can be can be injected into the human body with a standard syringe needle allowing for the internal examination of microscopic structures.
Colleen Murray lost her left ear in car accident 55 years ago became the first person in Australia to receive a new ear produced from 3D Printing technology. Prosthetist Brenton Cadd and team made the ear after using a scan and skin-like silicon material.
Roberta, daughter of Fabio Gorrasi was suffering Spinal Muscular Dystrophy, when her father decided to make a 3D Printed Brace to help her using machined aluminum alloy. Inspired by his design, Sanofi Genzyme, a biotech company which specializes in development of treatments and therapies for debilitating diseases, launched Make To Care program with Maker Faire Rome 2016, inviting interested makers to submit similar ideas by June 30.
Scientists at the University of Bristol have developed a new kind of stem-cell containing bio-ink, which could eventually allow the production of complex tissues for surgical implants. This new bio-ink contains two different polymers, a natural and a synthetic one. Team has been successful to 3D Print full-size tracheal cartilage ring and expect to print surgical bone or cartilage implants with it.
Surgeons and doctors of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, are using 3D printed bones and structures as training models for students. The first test started on 21 June in Rotterdam, and involved a 3D printed mastoid bone while these bones were developed by Medical Data.
Upcoming workshop Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health (QSNICH) aims to educate nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals about basic tools and techniques of 3D printing. Already working with local makerspace ProgressTH, their ultimate goal is to eventually assist QSNICH in setting up a makerspace inside the hospital's innovation department itself.
Bentley Yoder, a 7-month old was born with encephalocele, rare congenital defect that causes brain to grow outside of the skull. Using 3D Printing technology, Dr. John Meara at Boston Children’s Hospital was able to perform reconstructive surgery and 5 hours later, Bentley was reported to be doing well in recovery.
Special Neck Switch for19-year old Christopher Hills with Cerebral palsy and Quadriplegia, Customized Bionic eye for people with vision loss, Atari Joystick for a young Atari lover, Personalized Grip Covers for Disabled workers, uncountable prosthetics for disabled, are some of the achievements 3D Printing has been grabbing. There's still more for 3D Printing to come, and still more to present landmarks.
Materialise announced release of its Mimic Innovation Suite 19 which will help engineers and researchers to perform better 3D reconstruction. This software will provide faster image segmentation and accurate 3D reconstruction along with easier Finite Element Meshing, especially from CT and MRI scans.
NY based Create Prosthetics created the first ever medical-grade 3D Printed arm prosthetic which was delivered to a young Haitian mother by Jeff Erenstone. The 20 year old Haitian mother, Danis Exulise had lost her hand after being trapped under rubble of earthquake in 2010. The arm weighs 2 pounds and Create Prosthetics now seek North America for selling these arm kits.
Researchers from University of Aberdeen are working on the new technology with the Ministry of Defence's science and technology laboratory that aims to better diagnose head injuries among soldiers. They are working to develop a 3D Printed Portable Ultrasound that would create a 3D model of the brain on location and it could then be used for swift diagnosis.
Linda Green, inhabitant of Utah, had a malignant tumor underneath her ribs which required to be removed before it could spread to other organs. Using 3D reconstruction and 3D Printing, Dr. Jay Bishoff from Intermountain Medical Center, was able to excise the tumor without damaging any vital part of Linda.
Micromachining is Superfinishing, a metalworking process for producing very fine surface finishes and it's main applications include creating stents for coronary, peripheral and neurological uses. But can it beat 3D Printing? This has been a topic of debate but some seem to integrate both for the Ultimate cause.
Ethan James, a 10 year-old boy received prosthetic hand for himself after he and his fellow fourth-grade classmates at Roy B. Kelley Elementary School designed it. With some role from e-NABLE, this boy born without his right hand, is now able to live a better life with his new hand.
In Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, the founders of robotics startup Exiii revealed their latest open-source prototype called Exii Hackberyy which only costs about $200. The Exiii Hackberry has a flexible wrist, partially motorized fingers and low-cost parts such as an Arduino controller and a digital camera battery.
A three hours long workshop was held at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health through the help of ProgressTH, a Bangkok-based makerspace and media platform that works in numerous areas to enhance communities through organizing workshops. The workshop called Nurses and other healthcare professionals to use SketchUp Make, a user-friendly drawing tool suitable for makers on all levels and learn more about 3D Printing Technology.
S. Ramadorai, Chairman, National Skill Development Agency, recently stated regarding lack of Doctors in rural areas, that 3D Printing is emerging as a breakthrough in medicine. Biological tissues are being globally printed, living organs will be a practical reality soon, and India needs to tackle shortage of Doctors with further refining of such technologies in our sector.
A patient from South Korea, formerly serving in military, suffered a cancerous tumor in his heel, for which Dr. Hyun Guy had to either amputate the foot or approach conventional techniques. Approaching 3D Printing, Doctors at National Cancer 3d printed the heel bone implant of patient avoiding the former options.
Scientists from TechShot, developed a method to 3D Print structures in zero gravity, pioneering for space future programs. Printing a viable heart structure, scientists believe that this method of using low-viscosity bio-inks and finer printer tips will open doors for space-based bioprinter for human healthcare.
Amedica has made its first complex, three-dimensional structures by a 3D printing process called Robotic deposition, or Robocasting which is is a freeform fabrication technique for dense ceramics and composites that is based on layered deposition of highly colloidal slurries. The final products have been confirmed for integrity and validity of the 3D printing method and have been shown to achieve similar theoretical density and microstructure attributed to the traditionally manufactured silicon nitride fusion devices currently in use with advantages in bone fusion, antibacterial behaviour and superior strength.
Ottawa Hospital of Canada is revolutionizing the medicine with 3D Printed Body parts and research prototypes. With replica body parts as surgical guides, customized prosthetics, low-cost medical devices, surgical tools and even new skin for burn patients, Dr. Frank Rybicki is seeing to generate a commercial hub for themselves.
Design engineer Steve Wood of Gyrobot Limited has developed Gensole, a free, browser-based tool that allows you to design your own insoles, optimized for FDM 3D printing using TPE/TPU materials such as Filaflex. User can either upload his own foot scan or use one of Gensole's templates and 3D Print his own custom insole.
Materialise and Belgian Desginer, Dávid Ring, produced luxury custom eyeglasses which are completely printed using 3D Print Technology. For the lenses, the team used Stereolithography while for the frames, Laser Sintered was used.
Emmy Hoffman from Philadelphia was born with Symbrachydactly, which didn't allow her to fingers to grow since birth. Shoemaker and a team at Mission College collaborated to produce a 3D Printed Prosthetic hand for Emmy, helping her ride her new bike again.
Student researchers from University of Leeds, UK, have developed Project ALAN (Advanced upper-Limb Autonomous Neuro-rehabilitation) with its first component being myPAM, an assistive system engineered to help NHS deal with Stroke. To help post-stroke patients move and re-engage their upper limb muscles,they will be assisted by myPAM which has been 3D printed using OctoPrint.
4WEB Medical recently announced at the North American Spine Society annual meeting in Chicago that the company has launched its Posterior Spine Truss System in the U.S. market. This Posterior Spine Truss System will provide treatment options to lumbar spine patients and one of the finest implants.
On june 5th, InssTek Korea and Z3DLAB France announced partnership and deployment of ZTi-Powder® and ZTi-Med® on InssTeks product line repair for Orthopedic Implant market and Aeronautics sector. InssTek metal surface coatings applied to orthopedic implants, allow a three-dimensional interconnected array of pores throughout the coating thickness while Z3DLAB will provide non-toxic coating.
An international team, lead by Kwang Kim with University of Nevada, is now developing artificial muscles to give robots the ability to grasp, stretch, and squish objects. These muscles will be printed using a 3D printed electroactive polymer called Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites, which is a synthetic material that changes shape in response to electricity.
BeeHex, a Texas company commissioned by NASA, has developed a device to 3D Print pizzas for astronauts who are scheduled to go Mars around 2030. While this device will churn out fine pizzas within half a minute, the bio-ink is edible and will roll out its manufacture soon.
With successful launch of it's product exVive3D™ Human Liver Tissue in November 2014, Organovo Holdings company has started to extend its feet in the market of 3D Printing. With Skin tissue agreement with L'Oreal and the bio-ink deal with Merck, company is looking forward for further research developments in the upcoming months as stated in the recent conference.
Doctors at King’s College Hospital in London, UK have begun exploring using 3D imaging to perform more complex surgeries laparoscopically. Thoracoscope, a tool with two cameras is used for Endoscopy Assisted Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, however, it has been used for minor surgeries like gall bladder and prostate operations so far.
A team of students from Gonzaga University have developed an Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) which can be 3D Printed within 2 days compared to weeks. This AFO is produced after using 3D Scanner to get accurate measurements, and then printing it using CAD software.
3D Systems announced today the release of their Virtual Reality Training module for Laparoscopic Transabdominal Preperitoneal (TAPP) Inguinal Hernia Repair. This new module will be available on on 3D Systems’ LAP Mentor laparoscopic surgical simulator and company’s RobotiX Mentor simulator and will serve for improved medical training and better patient outcomes.