3D Printing has quite a few interesting applications within a few industries out there. First off, let me vaguely cover what 3D printing is. This technology is essentially the layer by layer assembly of products through a 3D printer. Layers of powder as thin as a few microns will be laid down and fused together through laser melting or glue. When layers keep fusing, a product becomes apparent after the 400th layer at least! Unlike traditional forms of manufacturing, 3D printing has the ability to produce virtually any shape through the layer by layer process. In a nutshell, 3D printing is the layer by layer creation of products through powder fusion.
One great aspect of this technology would be the variety of materials that are available. 3D printing can use one of over 50 materials to create products, whether it is titanium, silver, ABS plastic, or nylons. There are tons of choices when it comes down to prototyping your product.
You may want to do more research on the advanced process known as 3D printing, that isn't what I plan on talking about. I plan on covering what industries 3D printing can impact. Let me start off with the medical industry.
Unfortunately for us, the human body wasn't "designed" bullet proof. Unfortunately, there tend to be defects from time to time. Whether it be as small as having a weak skin gene, to missing an entire limb. In addition to that, we, the human race, are accident prone. Even aside from accidents, there are many circumstances such as war that will leave some people damaged and mangled. What happens when we experience a physical issue that needs to be compensated for? We take a stroll into the medical industry to correct our issues. Sometimes it isn't always that easy.
In many situations, we need some form of corrective treatment, and not all treatment is the same for each individual. In fact, plenty of the treatments are totally unique! What happens when a jaw breaks? Maybe we took trauma to the head and need to have facial reconstruction? Perhaps a bad hip went out... Maybe an individual was born lacking a body part. Let me cover what happened in a very specific case. A woman lost her jaw due to a form of cancer. She was left in a pretty poor situation. Thankfully, 3D printing has been on the rise and was able to compensate when no other forms of treatment could. An engineering team worked with a biomedical team, and they developed a titanium jaw through 3D printing that fit to the exact dimensions of the woman's jaw. She has a new jaw that is plenty strong for her! That is insane; think about that. Engineers developed a jaw to fit her facial structure perfectly, and surgeons could implant it! A similar case occurred when a man was in a horrible automobile accident, crushing one side of his face. Engineers scanned the other side of his face, and created a metal plate to compensate for the broken bone on the other face. Guess what, surgeons implanted it! This technology is becoming very helpful with leg prosthetics for military vets and civilians dealing with explosives. There is so much potential within the medical industry when it comes to 3D printing. As doctors become more aware of the technology, our society will encounter a breakthrough!
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