3DSystems announced their new consumer products at the International CES 2014. Avi N. Reichental, the President and Chief Executive Officer and Director of 3D systems announced the release of the Cube® 3 and CubePro™.
The International CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. CES is held in Las Vegas every year and it has served as the providing ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years. CES is the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced in the marketplace.
Organovo is a bio-printing company based in San Diego. They have claimed to overcome the vascular issue to a degree and now expect to unveil the world’s first printed organ. A functioning human liver is to be released by the end of 2014.
Brain surgery is notoriously difficult with surgeons spending years honing their craft. Learn how 3D printed skulls will help teach future brain surgeons.
Researchers at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur have created a 3D printed skull because of the need for more hands-on practice performing surgical operations. Read more
We all know prototyping can be costly but what if 3D printing can save you big bucks. Learn how 3D printing reduced prototyping costs by more than 30%.
Prototyping is well known for being a costly business. “Turning an idea or invention into a prototype will typically entail substantial production costs, freighting expenses and of course the professional fees of prototype makers – if you are contracting one.” Prototypes can be conveniently created on demand with 3D printing systems.
Watch This: EuroMold 2013 New Products Announcement. EuroMold 2013 was held at the Exhibition Center Frankfurt/Main, Germany. EuroMold provides visitors with the opportunity to learn more about the products and innovations of a multitude of exhibitors from differing sectors of the industry and different countries.
How 3D Printing in Toronto Can Improve Manufacturing
A Financial Post article dated November 19, 2013 goes into detail about what makes 3D printing the future of manufacturing. Among other things, this technology can do away with most of the inefficiencies that take place during the transformation of raw materials into actual products. The article notes the key innovations 3D printers can bring to the manufacturing industry:
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What used to be science fiction stuff has now become a reality. Rapid prototyping, which enables designers and manufacturers to create 3D scale models of parts or assemblies using so-called additive technology, is set to revolutionize various aspects of everyday life. Søren Petersen, resident engineering and design researcher for Huffington Post, has this to say about the fast evolving technology:
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Sheffield-based Fripp Design, a small manufacturing company in the north of England is hoping to revolutionize the world of prosthetics.
Photograph: Fripp Design
“Fripp Design has developed a system for fast and low-cost manufacture of facial prostheses such as nose and ear replacements for accident victims. “Conventional maxillofacial prosthetics are incredibly laborious and expensive to produce,” says their creator, industrial designer Tom Fripp. And it takes normally 10 weeks to complete one. “You have to take an impression from the area of trauma, cast a plaster positive, then make a mould, carve the desired form in wax, and cast it in silicone. The end result of this handmade process costs between £1,500 to £3,000.”
Working with researchers at the University of Sheffield, Fripp’s company have developed a process that can print a customized nose or ear within 48 hours. First the patient’s face is 3D-scanned, then the specific contours are added to a digital model of the new prosthetic part for a perfect fit. These features are either taken from the scan of the patients’ relatives or the patient’s own file, for example one ear can be scanned and mirrored to replicate another.
Meanwhile they are also working on 3D-printed eyes. A handmade eye can cost up to $10,000, but a 3D printed one will only cost around $160.
The parts are printed in full colour in starch powder using a Z Corp Z510 colour 3D printer. The lightweight model is then vacuum-infiltrated with medical grade silicone, binding it together. The cost of making such a part is almost the same as a handmade prosthetic, but Fripp says once the file is created, it can be used infinitely. And the cost can be lowered to £150.
The main barrier is the high cost of 3D-scanning technology as well as getting approval from the health authority. Fripp expects the technology to be ready in about a year.”
Article Source | 3Ders.org
Prosthetics are not cheep, they can range from $5,000 to $50,000. “For people without one or more of their natural limbs, the process of acquiring a prosthetic one is exhausting.
Back in 2011, Scott Summit, the founder of Bespoke Innovations, showed 3D-printed, individually designed prosthetic legs that are unabashedly artificial and completely personal. Summit has spent the past six years researching and working on 3-D prosthetics. With a 3D scanner and a 3D printer, we can now create a prosthetic limb for individuals, says Summit.
Unfortunately, it still costs a boatload of money, especially for those people who are unable to afford to get one.
Richard Van As, a South African carpenter, who lost four fingers from his right hand to a circular saw two years ago, decided to build his own hand. Working together with Ivan Owen in Seattle, they invented Robohand, a device that is made from cables, screws, 3-D printing and thermoplastic. It uses the rotation of a joint to enable five plastic digits to grasp. The device costs only about $500. In order to spread the device as widely as possible, Van As and Owen made the Robohand an Open Source design available online so everyone in the world can download and build one for themselves.
Image credit: London Science Museum
Then 17-year old inventor Easton LaChappelle from Colorado, built a prosthetic arm by generating most of the parts through a 3D printer. Currently LaChappelle has completed the third version of his robotic hand and the costs is only around $250. His ‘Arduino Robotic Arm’ is up to shoulder and has the same functionality as a human arm.
Eric Ronning, Mechanical engineering sophomore at University of Wisconsin-Madison invented a 3D printable prosthetic hand for amputees in developing countries. Named the Manu Print, the hand has a unique design that allows users to close and open each finger individually by applying only one tensile force. The hand is similar to the human hand and is purely mechanical and has no electronic parts. And the total mateial costs is only 20$.
Then, there was another project: Zero Point Frontiers, an engineering company in Huntsville, has built an new hand for two-year-old Huntsville toddler Kate Berkholtz who was born without fingers on her left hand. Zero Point Frontiers used their 3D printer to help this little girl by creating her a much needed prosthetic, and this 3D printed hands only costs about $5.
In September, Bristol, UK based Joel Gibbard (23) launched the Dextrus hand on indiegogo, a 3D printed robotic hand that offers much of the functionality of a human hand in a very low cost. It uses electric motors instead of muscles and steel cables instead of tendons. 3D printed plastic parts work like bones and a rubber coating acts as the skin. The hand can be connected to an existing prosthesis using a standard connector to give an amputee another option, and it costs less than $1,000.
Though these products are not as high quality as high-end prosthetics, they are functional, simple and low cost. In some parts of the world, the choice is between having a mediocrely-fitting prosthetic and not having one at all. That is the situation that spurred these inventors to action. These 3D-printed product has already benefitted a lot of children. With the increasing affordability of 3D printers, future robohand could be a lot cheaper and, also a lot of more capable.”
Watch below a nice story from CBS news about 12-year old Leon McCarthy and his awesome 3D printed prosthetic hand.
Two years ago, Paul McCarthy began searching for an inexpensive yet functional prosthetic hand for his son Leon, who was born without fingers on one of his hands. McCarthy came across a video online with detailed instruction on how to use a 3-D printer to make a prosthetic hand for his son.
Article Source : 3Ders.org