Apr. 7, 2015 | By Alec
Medical applications of 3D printing technology have been very successful in recent months, so it’s unsurprising that many experts are already predicting a very bright future for 3D printing technology in the medical industry. Of course, most of the recent successes involve 3D printed prosthetics, rather than bioprinted blood vessels, organs or other tissues, but those prosthetics are already changing the lives of disabled people throughout the world.
And make no mistake: we’re not just talking about brightly colored PLA hands for children. There are also plenty of prosthetic examples that blend in perfectly and mask disabilities. Case in point: the four year old Kai Sherwood from Salt Lake City, Utah, has just received a 3D printed ear prosthetic that is so lifelike, it’s almost impossible to tell which ear is fake. The young boy was born with birth defects called microtia and atresia that left him with just one ear and no ear canal. It means he’s completely deaf on that side of his head. To make matters worse, the young Kai is an orphan from China, where he was left at the side of the road almost immediately after birth.
While such a condition usually makes children unpopular adoption options, Kai was adopted by a loving Utah family. As mother Hansi Sherwood told reporters, the alternative was ‘just being raised up in an orphanage and just age out of it.’ Growing up, Kai was increasingly starting to notice that he was missing something. ‘He is starting to notice he is different from everybody else and people are looking at him. 'Why does his big brother's glasses get to sit on his ears and he's got to wear a band?'" Sherwood added. ‘There's a lot of teasing and stuff that goes on," Tanner said. 'We're just trying to make the social interaction a little more friendly.’
This purely cosmetic 3D printed ear is just the ticket for that. 3D printed at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, this lifelike ear prosthetic is a mirror image of his existing ear, and has been 3D printed in a chalk-like powder and binder. This was used to make as a mold to make a silicone ear, painted to match Kai’s skin color. Medically glued to Kai’s head, it was a perfect fit. As you can imagine, Kai and his mother were absolutely over the moon.
‘When it turns out well, it's fun for me to see their reaction,’ Dr Paul Tanner, who made the ear, told reporters. ‘When they see themselves with two ears, that's really fun to see.’
See the report on local media here.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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