3D Printed Tracheal Splint Saves Baby’s Life
Additive manufacturing (AM) is in the business of saving lives. The medical field has enthusiastically embraced the technology, using it to plan surgeries, manufacture vaccines, and are on the verge of leveraging AM to create synthetic human tissue. Now, doctors at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital have used 3D printing to save a child’s life.
Kaiba Gionfriddo was born with a rare medical condition named tracheobronchomalacia. From the time Kaiba was six weeks old, the bronchus responsible for moving air to his left lung would collapse, leaving him unable to breathe. Doctors weren’t optimistic about the baby’s chances. Continue reading
Rapid Ready Roundup: Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, MakerBot, 3D Medical and Zelda
In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing (AM), I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.
Let’s start this Roundup with an update from the US government about its manufacturing initiative. Apparently NAMII has been considered a success, as the White House has announced the launch of competitions for three new manufacturing innovation institute sites. This represents $200 million in additional funding for the project and President Obama has continued to call for congress to approve the investment of $1 billion to complete 15 sites nationally. Continue reading
3D Printed Ear 2.0
I’m not sure what it is about ears and additive manufacturing (AM) that’s grabbed the attention of researchers, but apparently the two work well together. It wasn’t all that long ago that Rapid Ready reported on Cornell University’s bioprinted ear, and now Princeton University has performed the same feat, albeit with a different focus.
Where Cornell researchers were focused on creating a prosthetic for children who suffer from a congenital deformity, Princeton’s team has put its efforts toward battling hearing loss. Princeton’s ear was built using AM to combine biology and electronics. The result is a prosthetic that could not only boost a user’s hearing, but also allow him to pick up radio signals. Continue reading
GE Prepares to Test the Potential of Additive Manufacturing
By now it’s no secret that aerospace manufacturers are very interested in 3D printing. Additive manufacturing (AM) has begun to make its presence known at airshows, was already at work in the prototyping process and has become a key part of building a few, small aircraft and UAVs.
GE is just one company that has taken notice of AM and, late last year, made a significant investment in the technology when it acquired Morris Technologies, and its 3D printing service, Rapid Quality Manufacturing. Now GE is getting ready to flex its AM muscle with a large scale industrial test of 3D printing. Continue reading
Rapid Ready Roundup: KamerMaker, Organovo, Custom Speakers and Tonearms
In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing (AM), I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.
Let’s begin today’s Roundup by building on past work. The era of 3D printed homes may soon be upon us. Innovators have taken a number of different approaches to the idea, and Netherlands-based KamerMaker is another process looking to provide you with shelter. Continue reading
