3-D Printing with Stem Cells
The ultimate potential for 3-D printing is printing large tissues and organs. People die waiting for an organ transplant, and 3-D printing could ultimately prevent lost lives. The potential may be sooner than expected. An Israeli 3-D printer firm, Nano Dimension, has successfully lab-tested a 3-D bio-printer using human stem cells as the ink. 3-D printers are […]
Printing Human Tissue
3-D printing has come a long way. I first saw it in an IBM laboratory in the early 1990s. It was huge and costly. The cost has plummeted. Now I have one in my workshop. I print objects using filament made from Polylactic Acid (PLA). The PLA is 1.75mm in diameter. That is about seven one-hundredths of […]
FDA Approves First 3-D printed Pill
If you are a believer in the future of 3-D printing, as I am, you believe just about anything can be printed. At the 3D Printing Conference and Expo in New York earlier this year, I saw printed shoes, chocolate pretzels, jewelry, teeth, and the fenders of a car. I have to admit, I had not […]
A Surgical Robot Stitching A Grape
One year ago this week, I had a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, followed by 39 days of intensity-modulated radiation treatment. The combination of the two has almost certainly cured me of prostate cancer. I wrote a chapter in Health Attitude about my personal experience and about 3-D printing and robots in healthcare. They will play an increasingly larger […]
3-D Printed Teeth
EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, a German high technology company, is using 3-D printing to change the way dental prosthetics are made. The company has a direct metal laser sintering process to print durable false teeth. Instead of plastic, the EOS 3-D printing process uses a proprietary powder made from a cobalt-chrome-molybdenum-based alloy powder. The teeth are […]
