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Two South African Cancer Patients Receive 3D Printed Titanium Jaw Implants
jigmypig (3675225) writes "Two patients in South Africa that have had their lives and more specifically their jaws severely affected by cancer, have just received 3D printed jaw implants. The jaws were 3D printed using a laser sintering process that melts powdered titanium, one layer at a time. The process saves a ton of money, and unlike traditional manufacturing of titanium jaws, it doesn't waste any materials. Traditional manufacturing wastes up to 80% of the titanium block used in the process, whereas with 3D printing there is little to no waste at all. This new process also allows for a fully customizable solution. The models are drawn up in CAD software, and then printed out to precisely fit the patient."
I'm sure the "waste" is recycled. While I'm happy for the advancement I think people stretch a bit too much to make something seem more revolutionary than it is. That doesn't benefit anyone.
While I find the 3d printing damn cool, the editorializing about the waste struck me as an odd comment for subby to make. I'm guessing that a lot of powder gets left over by this new process just as milling from a solid block leaves shavings. But those should be just as easily melted down and recycled in the next job, so not really wasted. (And if they are thrown away, it means that reusing them just isn't economical, so the 'waste' isn't that valuable anyway.)
I think the better argument where 3D wins is the ability to get arbitrary shapes that could be impossible to make with traditional machining or casting.
"You saved 1968." - Ms. Valerie Pringle to the crew of Apollo 8
You had me at "3D Printed Titanium Jaw Implants". Awesome!
It's cool, but not really news.
I was doing some work in Royal Perth Hospital sometime around 2008, and saw a small, beautifully detailed metal skull on one of the managers' desks. I asked him about it and was told he'd taken an MRI of his own skull and had it printed quarter-sized in sintered titanium. It was the best paperweight I've ever seen.
Cool factor aside, they've been scanning patients' actual bones, optimising them in software and printing titanium replacements (mostly hip joints) there for almost a decade now. There's even a few commercial madical 3d printing companies around AU (Anatomics is one).
It's great that SA is making jaws for people now though.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
now if only they could get around to that pesky aids problem