Apr. 9, 2015 | By Alec
The availability and successes of medical applications of 3D printing technology have been very successful in recent years, so it’s unsurprising that many experts are already predicting a very bright future for 3D printing technology in the medical industry. Of course, many of these successes involve 3D printed prosthetics rather than bioprinting achievements, but those prosthetics themselves can be much more than a simple PLA hand.
Nowadays even breasts can be made with 3D printing technology. Breast prostheses to be precise, for which German industry giants Anita has recently adopted 3D printers to ensure that their prosthetics are identical and even far cheaper and more efficient to produce. In fact, a spokesperson from Anita suggests that 3D printing has reduced their manufacturing costs by up to 50%. That’s also great news for the wearers of these prosthetics, typically breast cancer survivors and transgenders.
Other people might know Anita as a manufacturer of women‘s underwear, bodices and swimwear. They have also, for decades, helped women through the production of breast prostheses. You could call them an early adopter of 3D printing technology, having recently incorporated an X400 3D printer (developed by German RepRap) into their manufacturing process. Georg ber Unger junior, the company’s junior director of Anita, explained that their silicone prostheses require a very large number of molds to be made. 'The molds have been changing all the time and we need tools for 10 different types in 100 different sizes,‘ he says.
The problem with that approach – which necessitated wooden templates and fibre-glass prototypes – was that it was very time-consuming and inefficient. It would take 14 days to make a single pair, and even those were never absolutely identical. The X400 3D printer, made by German 3D printer developer German RepRap from Feldkirchen (near Munich), has made this process so much easier.
Today, an aluminum mold is simply scanned, reworked in CAD software and 3D printed. Mirroring that original design ensures that the copy is always identical to the other. What’s more, it only takes a couple of hours to make a pair of molds. These molds are made using inexpensive PLA filament, further contributing to the low production costs. While not exactly saving lives, 3D printing technology is here used to improve the quality of the lives of people who’ve often been through hell. We all need to find our dignity and self-respect, and these prostheses are the first step on a road to reclaim them.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
Maybe you also like:
- 3D print a custom shoe insole using FilaFlex and free open source tools
- Professional origimai artist uses 3Doodler pen to create high heel shoe
- 3D Systems announces 3D food printing partnership with The Culinary Institute of America
- Create your own 3D printed, Android-controlled H Quadcopter
- 3D print very cool models of Star Wars' TIE Fighter and X-Wing
- 3D-printed braille phone manufacturers OwnFone raise £786,000 in investments
- How Reebok used 3D printing to develop revolutionary new brain trauma product
- E-Nable designs young UK child a new superhero-inspired 3D printed arm
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
