7 Amazing Things You Can 3D Print
Miscellaneous / / August 16, 2022
Real food, a living heart, an eco-house made of rice and other useful "printouts" that can solve the world's problems.
1. Human organs
Scientists can already print skinHow Close Are We to 3D Printed Skin? / 3D Sourced, kidneys3D‑printed organs and their affordability / Medical Device Network, liver tissue3D Bioprinting / Organovo, heartResearchers 3D print a heart with human tissue and blood vessels / 3Dnatives and a number of other bodies. True, while they are usually smaller than real ones, and therefore suitable only for clinical trials or surgical practice. But in the future, they should seriously help in the fight against various diseases. For example, 3D skin want to useR. J. A. Moakes, J. J. Senior, T. E. Robinson, M. Chipara, A. Atansov A. Naylor, A. D. Metcalfe A. M. Smith, L. M. Grover. A suspended layer additive manufacturing approach to the bioprinting of tri-layered skin equivalents featured / APL Bioengineering as a wound healing agent. And full-fledged printed hearts or kidneys can shorten the queue for donor organs and save more lives: transplant annually
requiredEstimated number of organ transplantations worldwide in 2020 / Statista hundreds of thousands of people.3D Organs createdPrinting the future: 3D bioprinters and their uses / Australian Academy of Science from real living cells: either from adult stem cells or from a sample taken directly from a person. They play the role of ink, which the printer heads put on an organic or synthetic base. The correct shape, texture and tissue layers are programmed based on the results of the scan - this ensures maximum copy accuracy. The main challenge facing scientists now is find an opportunity3D‑printed organs and their affordability / Medical Device Network create organs capable of functioning inside the body: contact with the nervous and circulatory systems and perform their tasks correctly.
2. Bones and cartilage
But they are already used by surgeons in real life. For example, 3D implants are used to substitutions100,000 Patients Later, the 3D‑Printed Hip Is a Decade Old and Going Strong / Orphopedia Design & Technology thigh bones. There are also good examples transplants75% of a human skull replaced with 3D‑printed material / ExtremeTech printed skull bones and cartilage auricleDoctors Transplant Ear of Human Cells, Made by 3‑D Printer / The New York Times. The next step in the application of this technology may be the replacement of small damaged areas right inside the person. This 3D printing method, according to the researchers, will allowS. Romanazzo, T. G. Molly, S. Nemec, K. Lin, R. Sheikh, J. J. Gooding, B. Van, Q. Li, K. A. Kilian, I. Roohani. Synthetic Bone‑Like Structures Through Omnidirectional Ceramic Bioprinting in Cell Suspensions / Advanced Functional Material speed up the process and save in cases where speed of reaction is critical, for example, in the treatment of bone cancer.
3D printers come in handyOpen wide: how 3D printing is reshaping dentistry / Medical Device Network and in dentistry. They simplify the process of creating crowns, bridges and prostheses: the specialist does not need to select sizes manually - the model is formed and printed on the basis of images of the oral cavity. They can also be used as temporary implants to help patients get used to their new teeth and make sure they fit well in the mouth. Technology is safe: for printing useHARZ Labs Received Patent for Dental Resins / Sudo Null IT News special photopolymer resins. They are strong, retain an aesthetic shade for a long time and do not irritate the mucous membrane.
3. Prostheses
Hands, feet and other parts of the body. Due to the simplified production process of the 3D prosthesis standScientists Create Fully Automated 3D Printed Prosthetic Production Line / 3D Printing Industry cheaper and faster to create. In the standard scheme, you first need to make an impression of the preserved part of the patient's limb, then cast a trial version from plaster, after trying on, correcting inaccuracies, and only then proceed to create a finished product. In the 3D version, it is enough to collect measurements, correct the model on the screen and print it.
However, such prostheses do not necessarily perform an exclusively cosmetic function. 3D hands with touch controlThese bionic arms make kids feel like superheroes / Insider, that is, a reaction to body signals, or with vibration response3D printed prosthetic arm providing feedbacks / Sculpteo for touching objects already exist. In addition, it is easier to replace a printed artificial limb after wear with a similar one by re-creating it according to the saved layout.
3D prostheses can be used not only in humans. For example, in Australia on a printer createdMillie The Dog: Australia's First Pup To Receive a 3D Printed Prosthetic Leg / HuffPost artificial leg for a dog
The speed and cost of producing 3D prostheses is a chance for many children: conventional options are too quickly rendered useless due to the active growth of the child. And a printed model can be created even for a one-year-old patient who is just learning movements: such a development has already submittedFirst 3D‑Printed Sensor‑Operated Prosthetic Arm for Toddlers / University of Lincoln scientists from Lincoln University.
4. Food
Brands useIs 3D Printing the Future of Food Manufacturing? / Blacksmith Applications 3D printers for modeling future products or creating unusual shapes of familiar food. Creative serving options are also used in some restaurants. In 2016 in London temporarily opened an entire establishment, the menu of which consisted entirely of dishes obtained using 3D technology.
But the choice of appearance is not the only plus of 3D food printing. Due to the possibility of virtual programming of the composition, the dishes created by the printer are easy to adjust to the desired nutritional value: control the caloric content, the amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins. This will make life easier for people who are on a strict diet for medical reasons. Also, the printer will allow you to cook the usual food, but from budget ingredients. For example, to form a fish fillet from seaweed. It's in theory should helpSolving World Hunger with 3D‑Printed Food / The American Society of Mechanical Engineers in solving the problem of world hunger.
In the future, 3D printers can make the diet more ethical. For example, they will make it possible to stop killing animals for the production of meat products. One of the alternatives is here creationWould you eat a steak from a 3D printer? / SBS meat is completely based on vegetable ingredients.
Another way is to form “ink” for a 3D printer from a meat sample taken from an animal by biopsy. A device for printing using this technology created at the Moscow State University of Food Production (MGUPP). True, for a 3D printer to be able to make a whole steak from a tiny piece of fabric, it takes several months. First, the sample is cultured in a bioreactor. When there are enough cells, they begin to form the base - from ingredients of plant origin. After that, animal and vegetable “ink” are alternately applied to it. As a result, the product retains both taste and texture.
The MGUPP 3D printer is capable of printing not only meat, but also, for example, chocolate or dough. University researchers plan to experiment with the technology further to expand their product range.
5. Clothing and footwear
Things created using 3D printing are produced by many brands. For example Nike madeNike's 3D-Printed Uppers Are a Game-Changing First for the Sneaker World / Esquire on the printer, the upper part of the sneakers, and Adidas - midsoleAdidas running shoes with 3D printed midsoles push your feet forward / CNET. The dresses of the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen sewn using this technology regularly put onWho is Iris Van Herpen? Here's what you need to know about the designer who dominated the Met Gala 2022 / Glamor celebrities. Austrian Julia Koerner also works with the printer - accessories that she created in collaboration with costume designer Ruth Carter, woreMeet Julia Koerner The Designer Who Helped Bring Black Panthers 3D Printed Costumes To Life / UCLA Angela Bassett in Black Panther.
Fashion 3D printing expands the creative possibilities of designers, allowing for futuristic shapes that are difficult to achieve with conventional sewing methods. However, this is not the main advantage of the technology. 3D printer reduces3D Printing: The Solution to Fashion's Waste Problem? / ÀLA.HAUSSE resource consumption: a thing or its element immediately appears in the right size - no extra shreds and threads remain. In addition, 3D fabric requires less water to make than cotton, and it can also be quickly created from recycled or recycled materials. In the future, printing things may destroyCould 3D printing clothes be the future of fashion? / Thred fast fashion, allowing you to create them individually, ideally suited to the parameters and requests of the client.
6. Laboratory instruments
Printed instruments, due to the speed and cost of production, can help in research in poor countries. Now exists several projects at once, creating budget microscopesOpenFlexure: an open‑source 3D printed microscope / The Company of Biologists for diagnosing malaria in Tanzania.
3D technologies make science more accessible to amateurs as well. For example, Australian researchers developedWant to do some science? Here's a smartphone microscope you can 3D print / Digital Trends a microscope attachment for a smartphone and posted files in the public domain: anyone who has a printer can create such a device.
7. Houses
There are buildings with printed walls around the world, including in RussiaIn Russia, a whole village will be printed on a 3D printer / RBC. 3D printers allow3D Printed Houses: A Closer Look at Completed Projects from Around the World / 3Dnatives build houses in a few days, while reducing costs and do not require the participation of an entire construction team. Large special equipment is also not needed - you can work even in hard-to-reach places. The construction printer itself weighs a couple of tons, so transporting it to the point is quite realistic.
3D printing expands the creative possibilities: the machine can print curved walls, helical supports and other complex shapes. And the variability of building materials in this technology is large: concrete, sand, volcanic ash or eco-materials like rice husksThe Firts 3D Printed House "Gaia" Built With Soil, Rice Husks, and Straws / Surfaces Reporter.
With the help of 3D printers, not only buildings are erected, but also other structures, such as pedestrian bridges. You can go through these, for example, in AmsterdamJoris Laarman’s 3D‑printed stainless steel bridge finally opens in Amsterdam / Dezeen or Spanish city AlcobendaseWorld's First 3D Printed Bridge Opens in Spain / ArchDaily.