Titanium Jaw
Since they were giving her a new jaw they should have printed it with teeth.
Posted on 02/06/2012 10:54:14 PM PST by LibWhacker
(CBS) Doctors and engineers have joined forces to bring the world its first lower jaw transplant, using a prosthetic jaw made by a 3D printer. An 83-year-old Belgian woman underwent the operation last June, after suffering from an infection that rapidly ate away her jaw.
In order to keep breathing, chewing, talking and feeling in her jaw, the patient had no option other than the complete removal of her mandible (lower jaw).
Scientists at the University of Hasselt BIOMED Research Institute in Belgium developed a custom made implant using 3D printing of titanium powder. The design, processing and production of the implant were all done digitally, and the implant was ready in just a couple of hours. Weighing 107 grams, the prosthetic jaw was just a bit heavier than a natural lower jaw, but to no disadvantage. The implant was coated with "artificial bone" and polished, fitting the patient perfectly.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Titanium Jaw
Since they were giving her a new jaw they should have printed it with teeth.
He was the operations officer for a tank battalion (15th Tank Battalion of the 6th Armored Division) that was pursuing some Germans across Eastern France. His column entered a village and he hopped off his tank to see where the Germans had gone. He stuck his head around the corner of a building just as a panzerfaust struck it, crushing his lower jaw with a chunk of masonry.
He was evacuated to Scotland, where he spent the next eighteen months undergoing numerous rounds of surgery before the doctors were successful in their endeavors.
For those unfamiliar with this technology.....it is the future; in fact, it’s here now. “Printing” 3D objects has come such a long way in a relatively short time that it is....no pun intended here....simply jaw-dropping.
It’s not much of a stretch to predict that soon automobile parts, aircraft parts (whole wings, etc.), and many consumer goods will soon be “printed” vs. traditional manufacturing techniques. The ramifications are staggering.
Think of what this means, really. What if it didn’t take an army of highly skilled technicians to manufacture a particular aircraft or car part (e.g. a transmission). Think of the “barriers to entry” to higher technology that are suddenly removed. Get the “plans”, the right output devices.....and voila: you, too, can manufacture aircraft or refrigerators or cars or whatever you wish.
I find it very exciting, actually.
You beat me to the obvious joke by a minute. Drats.
It took me a few minutes to find the picture
Better luck next time ;)
CNC is dead.
Add to your list the 3d printer fabrication of building parts and spacecraft structures on the sunny side of the Moon using the abundant sunlight and titanium-rich “soil.”
Add to your list the 3d printer fabrication of building parts and spacecraft structures on the sunny side of the Moon using the abundant sunlight and titanium-rich “soil.”
Add to your list the 3d printer fabrication of building parts and spacecraft structures on the sunny side of the Moon using the abundant sunlight and titanium-rich “soil.”
interesting, layer by layer....micron by micron?
Have the ChiComs bought this tech, too.
Food... we'll be able to print out a 5-star meal for dinner. You won't buy recipe books in the future. You'll buy recipe files, computer files.
Online purchases... sneakers, clothing, etc. Amazon won't ship via UPS any longer. Instead, you'll download a file from Amazon to your printer (3D printer prices are falling fast) and print out your purchase.
Highways clogged with 18-wheelers delivering goods? A thing of the past. It won't only be Amazon using 3D printing to circumvent shipping costs. Hardly anything will need to be loaded on a truck and shipped somewhere in the future. Shipping will be digital.
It does seem that this time, a brave new world really does await us. And it's right around the corner, to boot.
But the negatives, too, seem limitless: Porn, terrorism, piracy... It's going to be the next frontier in piracy.
Check out the Wikipedia article about it.
3-D printing has been around for awhile in some form. FDM, fuse deposition modeling, using different plastics is very popular for proto-typing and proof of concept. However, it’s a long way from production capabilities. Two reasons; speed and tolerance requirements. Not to say they won’t get there for low volume applications, but the speed and accuracy required for high volume is a long way off. My guess (didn’t see it in the article) is there was some form of post processing required to meet the dimensional requirements. Cool stuff, though. And titanium no less!
Saw a video of a printer making a crescent wrench. It took a few minutes and the they turned the thing and the jaw opened and closed and then they used it to loosen a bolt. I have to say it was one of the most amazing things I have seen. How long will it be before they are printing new hearts and livers? Maybe some day.
Seems I really wasn’t so far off. How about.....rocket engines?
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