3D Print Video

"Digital Dentistry" is here!

The dental field has always been a strong branch of the healthcare system. It has also been a dreadful issue in terms of cost for many people. From a simple clean to dental surgery, the main cost arises from the equipment  needed and the replacement parts for the teeth.

While 3D printing has been revolutionising the medical field for the past few years, it has set foot in the dentistry. It marks the start of "Digital Dentistry". This has been a prototype for some time but in recent times it shows promising results to replace the costly alternatives.

The developments began with models being created for educational or simple reference purposes. At a time nearly 30 models were able to produced in a time frame, which had 3-4 models being manufactured by existing factories. So far only mouth guards have been a product that can be used in the mouth. But a full set of parts for braces and other dentures are not far from being 3D printed.

Cheaper production means, cheaper prices. This changes the amount of dentures that can be accessed by third world country citizens, since the affordability is a huge factor for them and also with many people from developed countries.

The research conducted by Apex promises this change to take place soon. Here's a video to provide an overview of "Digital Dentistry".

Source: http://youtu.be/hl3GvW-cfGM

The 3D Pen

The first 3D pen was released by Kickstarter earlier this year and has since made gained over $2million in backing in order to develop their project.  It allows the user to create anything and everything you can imagine. The pen uses the same material as 3D printers (ABS or PLA), and it draws by extruding pre-heated plastic in the air or on a surface. 

"http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130822-swisspen-3d-printing-pen-is-launched-to-compete-with-3doodler.html"

The SwissPen, which is depicted in the image above, was developed in response to the 3Doodler. It doesn't require any software or computer and it can be used in many different ways, from flat shapes to 3D objects, or to make patterns on a piece of paper which can be then fitted together.

Designed and made in Switzerland, the swissPen retails for US$111, plus international shipping. You can choose between ABS or PLA plastic when ordering. It comes with universal power supply 110-240V + 220 strands of plastic (length 25 cm each, 20 strands of each colour, 11 colours : white, orange, black, yellow, purple, green, sky blue, red, blue, pink, glow in the dark) and it will begin shipping in October 2013.

The 3Doodler will retail for only $99 and is believed to be available as early as February 2014. with such strong financial backing throughout the entire development process it seems that Kickstarters may just create one of the most advanced pieces of technology we have seen this century.


Below is a video of the SwissPen in action:

Can 3D-Printers really print a human organ?

In what would easily be the greatest accomplishment that the medical field will see, a belief that one day 3D-Printers will be able to construct live human organs for implantation. Dying patients could someday receive a 3D-printed organ made from their own cells rather than wait on long lists for the short supply of organ transplants. Such a futuristic dream remains far from reality, but university labs and private companies have already taken the first careful steps by using 3D-printing technology to build tiny chunks of organs. This action is being spearheaded by Tony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in WInston-Salem, N.C. He says "Bioprinting organ for human uses won't happen anytime soon, but for tissues we've already implanted in patients — structures we've made by hand — we're now going back to those tissues and saying 'We know we can do better with3D printing.'"

Atala's group previously built lab-grown organs by creating artificial scaffolds in the shape of the desired organ and seeding the scaffold with living cells. They used the technique to grow artificial bladders first implanted in patients in 1999, but spent the last decade building 3D printers that can print both an artificial scaffold and living cells at the same time — a process that involves liquid "glue," which hardens into the consistency of gummy candy as it dries out.

Other labs think they can bypass the artificial scaffolds by harnessing living cells' tendencies to self-organize. That avoids the challenge of choosing scaffold material that can eventually dissolve without affecting the living cells, but leaves the initial structure of living cells in a delicate position without the supporting scaffold.

"If you do what we do with putting cells in the right place, you don't start with anything structural to hold things up," said Keith Murphy, chairman and CEO of Organovo, a startup San Diego-based company "For us, the challenge is the strength and integrity of the structure."

Organovo scientists have experimented with building tiny slices of livers by first creating "building blocks" with the necessary cells. The company's 3D printers can then situate the building blocks in layers that allow the living cells to start growing together.

Stem cells taken from a patient's fat or bone marrow can provide the 3D-printing material for making an organ that the body won't reject, Murphy said. His company worked with Stuart Williams, executive and scientific director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute in Louisville, Ky., on extracting the stem cells from fat.

"http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/03/08/3d-printing-an-organ-live-onstage-at-ted/"

3D-Printing Move Into Fashion

With 3D-Printing continuing to develop, the use of the technology has now shifted into the fashion industry. Now, for a limited time online shops like "i.materialise" are offering designers the chance to play with experimental materials that have properties akin to rubber. These materials are only being offered on a limited basis, however they are certainly paving the way for new ideas to enter the field. The use of 3D-Printing in fashion has been quite a success thus far with one Haute Couture dress being paraded down the Catwalk at Spring Fashion Week 2013. 

The pricing of the new material remains a concern to some. The material us is dyed black and called Rubber-like, is priced at €2 (US$2.60) per cubic centimeter, which is more expensive than other options. However, this is one of the few materials available that frees designers to incorporate shock absorption and structural elasticity into their models, gadgets, and functional objects. 

The 3D-printed dress, created by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen with Julia Koerner, was fabricated by "i.materialise" on its Mammoth Stereolithography machines. "I find the process of 3D printing fascinating because I believe it will only be a matter of time before we see the clothing we wear today produced with this technology, and it’s because it’s such a different way of manufacturing, adding layer-by-layer, it will be a great source of inspiration for new ideas," says Iris van Herpen, who has designed sophisticated skirts, capes, and dresses that would be impossible to create any other way.

The video below shows the possibilities of the current "Rubber-like" material in design:

A New Zealand Aston Martin fan is 3D printing his own replica 1961 Aston Martin DB4.

Auckland-based computer programmer Ivan Sentch is spinning up a replica DB4 piece-by-piece on a 3D printer that costs around $500. His blog, Replica DB4 Project chronicles the process – and the problems and pitfalls he’s faced – since starting the build late in 2012.

 Sentch says he’s completed about 72 per cent of the body printing, which will then be used to create a fibreglass mold, and build the final body onto a custom-built spaceframe with power coming from Nissan Skyline GTS innards currently being used in his Ferrari 250 GTO replica. The Ferrari, by the way, will get a BMW V12 engine as consolation.

Sentch says his decision to do the Aston Martin was prompted by family needs. “It was partly because I need four seats, and the 250 GTO kit car I've got hardly gets used as it's only a two-seater and I can't take the kids in it,” he says. “But also because an old Aston Martin is very very cool and a DB4 over a DB5 or a DB4 Zagato because I just like the look of the DB4 more -- I'm going for the no bumper GT lightweight look, though.

He says the wheel track of the Skyline made it the ideal donor car for the Aston Martin DB4 project. “It had the right wheel track to fit in the body -- wheelbase doesn't matter as you can get a custom propeller shaft -- it's a six-cylinder like the DB4, and the Skylines are very cheap.

3D Printing Now Designing Jewellery

The Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair is about to open and it's going to feature some beautiful, cutting-edge 3D printed pieces along with a very special Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) 3D printer. The exhibitor behind the pieces, Cookson Precious Metals plans to show off their new line of 3D printed jewellery along with their new EOS Precious M 080 3D printer. Visitors to the fair will get a chance to see the printer in action while they take a look at the CAD-designed jewelry. Some of the pieces included in the display will be the "Towe Bracelet", the "Nervous Systems Ring" and a laser sintered watch case and pendant. Each of the pieces was designed by a different artist. They have recently partnered with EOS to offer their DMLS 3D printing service to jewellery designers around the world. The Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair gives them a perfect place to show off the service, the printer and the products they can provide.

"The particular beauty of Additive Manufacturing is that it can be used to produce both one-off pieces as well as large scale production eliminating many process steps and tooling costs that we see today," said Stella Layton, CEO of Cookson. "This technology is affordable, compact and provides a trendsetting manufacturing solution to the watch and jewelry industry."

You can take a look at the EOS Precious M 080 3D printer in action here: