Category: 3D Printer

A newly discovered 3D-printing method could be revolutionary for bone cancer treatment.

By Douglas Broom

• How can patients recover from surgery that removes parts of their bones?
• Up to now the answer has been to build a ceramic replica in a laboratory.
• But now scientists have invented a way to 3D-print bone tissue inside the body.
• Ceramic material that mimics bone structure is mixed with living cells.
• Its inventors say it will reduce suffering and speed up recovery.

A new 3D printing process which can be used inside the human body is offering hope to trauma and cancer patients who need bone replacements, reducing pain and speeding up recovery time.

The treatment of bone cancers can lead to sections of bone being removed and accident victims may require extensive bone repairs. Up to now, 3D bone printing has involved producing material outside the patient’s body.

But now a new technique developed at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, offers the prospect of doctors being able to create new bone tissue exactly where it is needed during a surgical operation.

Continue reading… “This ceramic ink can 3D-print bones directly into a patient’s body. Here’s how”

A newly discovered 3D-printing method could be revolutionary for bone cancer treatment.

By Douglas Broom

• How can patients recover from surgery that removes parts of their bones?
• Up to now the answer has been to build a ceramic replica in a laboratory.
• But now scientists have invented a way to 3D-print bone tissue inside the body.
• Ceramic material that mimics bone structure is mixed with living cells.
• Its inventors say it will reduce suffering and speed up recovery.

A new 3D printing process which can be used inside the human body is offering hope to trauma and cancer patients who need bone replacements, reducing pain and speeding up recovery time.

The treatment of bone cancers can lead to sections of bone being removed and accident victims may require extensive bone repairs. Up to now, 3D bone printing has involved producing material outside the patient’s body.

But now a new technique developed at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, offers the prospect of doctors being able to create new bone tissue exactly where it is needed during a surgical operation.

Continue reading… “This ceramic ink can 3D-print bones directly into a patient’s body. Here’s how”

A new study by P&G researchers shows how personalized medicine can leverage 3D printing

By Vanesa Listek

American multinational Procter and Gamble(P&G) is breaking ground in personalized medicine. Committed to delivering consumer-centric creations, researchers at the company’s Singapore Innovation Center (SgIC) have teamed up with the National University of Singapore and the A*STAR – Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, to develop 3D printed customized drug tablets with specific dosages, release durations, and multiple drug combinations. In a new study published in Elsevier’s Journal of Controlled Release, the researchers show a simple, low-cost, and efficient 3D printing method for fabricating bespoke drug pills that are safe for consumption. In the future, this technology could enable broader access to personalized medicine and better treatments for patients, specifically designed for their particular physiology and needs.

For years, there has been growing interest in personalized medicine, which could help overcome the limitations of traditional “trial-and-error” treatment and offer more effective medications for individual patients. In fact, the impressive success of targeted therapies on cancer and several chronic medical conditions is a testament to the possibilities for this emerging healthcare approach. Individualized drug therapies could even disrupt current drug manufacturing protocols for large batch productions and could eventually reduce healthcare costs by addressing the underlying causes of medical problems immediately – in a preventive way.

Continue reading… “P&G Closer to Customizing Drug Tablets Thanks to 3D Printing”

Branch’s C-Fab process uses 20 times less material than traditional 3D printing techniques

 By Holly B. Martin 

Branch Technology’s Cellular Fabrication process allows build materials to solidify in free space without dimensional restrictions or support structures. Shown are 3D-printed pavilions for an exhibit in Miami. Images: Branch Technology

Branch Technology is a prefabrication construction and technology company that specializes in 3D-printing large-scale facades, walls, pavilions, sculptures, and other architectural components and polymer structures.

Among the goals of the Chattanooga, Tenn., company is to provide architects unprecedented design freedom through the use of its Cellular Fabrication (C-Fab) technology. The patented process combines industrial robots, powerful algorithms, and the company’s Freeform extrusion process that allows huge structures to be 3D-printed without supports.

Continue reading… “Robotic 3D printing system builds large, lightweight structures in free-space”

By David Williams, CNN

Developers plan to build 15 3D-printed houses in Rancho Mirage, California.

(CNN)Developers in Southern California are building what they say will be the first 3D-printed zero net energy neighborhood in the United States.Palari Group said it plans to build 15 eco-friendly 3D-printed homes on a five-acre parcel of land in Rancho Mirage, an upscale community in the Coachella Valley, near Palm Springs.The 1,450 square foot, single-story homes will be made from a stone composite material that is strong, fire resistant, water resistant and termite proof, Palari Group founder and CEO Basil Starr told CNN.The homes will be made of modular panels that are printed out by their partner Mighty Buildings at a facility in Oakland and are assembled at the building site “kind of like Lego blocks,” Starr said.

Continue reading… “The first 3D-printed housing community in the US is being built in the California desert”

By Leonard Manson 

Engineers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in Spain, developed plastic beams with 3D printing that are more resistant than those of steel and concrete. In addition to the high resistance, the creation also presents greater versatility. That’s because the beams are made in small blocks that are easy to transport and that are assembled on site – somewhat reminiscent of Lego blocks.

Its versatility makes it possible to install it even in places of difficult access. In fact, although they do not have metallic components, the plastic beams are reinforced with elements that provide rigidity to the structure. According to engineers, this factor generates numerous technical benefits.

Continue reading… “3D printed plastic beams are stronger than steel”

• Written by Eric Baldwin

Kansas City developer 3Strands has announced U.S.A’s first 3D printed homes for sale, the company’s first multi-home project in Austin, Texas. Built with construction technology company ICON, the housing development includes two to four-bedroom homes in one of the fastest-growing cities in America. Designed by Logan Architecture, the project utilizes the Vulcan construction system to build each home.

Continue reading… “ICON’s First 3D Printed Homes for Sale in Austin, Texas”

The new method uses stereolithography and jelly-like materials known as hydrogels to speed up the process.

By  Loukia Papadopoulos

3D printing technologies have evolved at an unbelievable pace resulting in everything from 3D printed meat, to 3D printed houses to even 3D printed guns.

Many 3D printers have boasted that they may be the future of printed organs but we haven’t gotten there just yet. Now, a new study out of the University of Buffalo may just be the key to 3D printed organs.

“The technology we’ve developed is 10-50 times faster than the industry standard, and it works with large sample sizes that have been very difficult to achieve previously,” said in a statement the study’s co-lead author Ruogang Zhao, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering.

Continue reading… “High-Speed 3D Printing Method Takes Us One Step Closer to Printing Organs”

by Michael Molitch-Hou

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of a new 3D printed implant, the Patient Specific Talus Spacer from Additive Orthopaedics. The device is described by the FDA as “the first in the world and first-of-its-kind implant to replace the talus.”

The talus is the bone in the ankle that joins the leg and the foot. In particular, this world first could be used to treat avascular necrosis (AVN) of the ankle joint, in which bone tissue is destroyed by a lack of blood supply to the area. AVN is typically the result of an acute injury, such as a broken bone, or prolonged tissue damage. In joints, the cartilage that prevents bones from grinding against one another can degrade over time, resulting in arthritis and pain. In the case of the ankle, the talus may collapse and require the fusing of joints, which can reduce pain but makes movement of the joint impossible, or even amputation of the leg below the knee.

Now that there is a 3D printable implant to treat this problem, it may be used to replace other surgical interventions and spare the joint of people suffering from late-stage AVN. As the name suggests, the Patient Specific Talus Spacer is tailored to each patient based off of their computed tomography data. The damaged talus can then be replaced with a 3D printed, cobalt chromium replacement that perfectly fits the patient’s anatomy.

Continue reading… “Additive Orthopaedics Gains FDA Approval for First 3D Printed Talus Implant”

THE 40-FOOT CONTAINERS WILL CONTAIN ALL OF THE EQUIPMENT TO SCAN, MODEL, AND MANUFACTURE PARTS OUT OF METALS, CERAMICS AND MORE.

Portable Factory

The United States Department of Defense just awarded a contract to additive manufacturing company ExOne to develop 3D printing mini-factories that could be deployed into the field during a military operation.

The factories are essentially complete 3D printing labs that can be housed entirely within a shipping container, according to Interesting Engineering. It’s an intriguing — though not unprecedented — idea that the Defense Department says will help improve military logistics and allow for parts and tools to be replaced as needed on the spot.

Continue reading… “THE US MILITARY IS GETTING 3D PRINTING “FACTORIES” INSIDE SHIPPING CONTAINERS”

By Lauren Rouse

3D printing meat is one thing, but 3D printing a mouthwatering steak is living-in-the-future level shit. A team in Israel has figured out how to do just that by bioprinting the world’s first cultivated rib-eye steak.

Aleph Farms announced it had produced the world’s first slaughter-free rib-eye steak through the use of 3D bioprinting technology and real cow cells. The company worked with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology on the project.

Continue reading… “3D Printed Steaks Are a Real Thing Now”

by Emily Pollock

A team led by GE Research has been given a multi-million dollar contract to develop 3D printed atmospheric water collectors for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Atmospheric Water Extraction (AWE) program. The prototypes, which will use heat exchange principles to draw water from the air, could eventually supply water for companies of up to 150 soldiers, even in a desert environment.

The AWE is a DARPA program aimed at reducing the risks and expenses of getting water to U.S. troops stationed in arid climates. To cut down on the need for a water supply chain, they’re investing in water extraction directly from the air. While there are atmospheric water capture devices on the market today, they work on the same principles as dehumidifiers in a standard air conditioning unit, making them bulky and unusable in an arid environment. AWR is looking into smaller, lighter and more efficient atmospheric water extraction, with materials that stay stable over thousands of extraction cycles. The project has two tracks: expeditionary (which would supply water to a single warfighter) and stabilization (which could supply up to 150 people).

AIR2WATER is one of five teams to be awarded in the most recent round of funding. The four-year, $14.3 million project aims to develop a water absorber that can be lifted by four individuals and supply water for 150 people. There are two arms to the AIR2WATER project: developing coating materials called “sorbents”, and developing 3D printed heat exchangers to make the sorbents more efficient.

Continue reading… “GE Developing 3D Printed Device to Convert Air into Water for US Military”