Printing A Medical Revolution

Printing a Medical Revolution

3D printing technology is already transforming the dental and prosthetics industries.

Dental and Prosthetics

With dental fabrication, a digitized, intra-oralscan is made of a patient's teeth, uploaded into a computer, and then e-mailed to a dental lab that prints out a new porcelain bridge. It's an affordable and precise way to create a restorativeprosthesis, and the new process means patients no longer have to endure uncomfortable, foul-tasting, and less accurate oral impressions using trays and molding materials. 3D printing has also brought about asea change in how prosthetic limbs are made and customized.

Bespoke Innovations manufactures customized prosthetic limb coverings, or "fairings," that perfectly mirror the sculptural symmetry andfunction of the wearer's remaining limb. These can be designed to capture the wearer's particular fashion sense, as well.

This past February, doctors and engineers in the Netherlands collaboratedon the 3D printing of a prosthetic lower jaw, which was subsequently implanted into an 83-year-old woman who suffered from chronic bone infection. The printer produced the prosthetic jaw from 33 layersof titanium powder that were heated, fused together and then coated with bioceramic artificial bone.

This application of 3D-printing technology isn't just a breakthrough for the patient, but forthe doctor as well. 3D printing can improve medical outcomes by helping surgeons plan their surgical approaches more effectively.

Organ Replacement

The technology involves the creation ofreplacement tissues and organs that are printed layer-by-layer into a three-dimensional structure. The parts are made from the organ recipient's own genetic matter, and precisely match the tissue or organthey replace.

Since these printed organs or tissue are made from the patient's own cells--rather than those of a donated heart or liver, for example--there's little risk of an immune response....