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FDA Approves Custom Facial Implants

The world of 3D printing is moving at an incredible pace and that is truly evident in the medical industry. Oxford Performance Materials has not gained FDA approval for their custom 3D printed facial implants. Oxford Performance Materials' OsteoFab Patient-Specific Facial Device is designed to function just like real bone which isn’t all that revolutionary. What is the exciting part is that it can be custom tailed to the anatomy of any patient. This means that when a patient needs facial reconst

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3D Printed Prosthetics for Derby

Derby is a happy, energetic dog that just wants to spend days running around and playing. For a typical dog that is not a problem, but Derby has two very deformed front legs. His original owners surrounded him to an animal shelter because they did not know how to care for him. It was through Peace and Paws Dog Rescue that Derby’s story got a happy ending. Tam Anderson saw Derby and knew that she had to foster him. Initially she tried buying the energetic dog a cart to help him get around but it

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Affordable Prosthetic Eyes Are Now a Reality

For people who have suffered severe injury or the ravages of cancer to their eye, the need for a prothestic is great. While prosthetic eyes do not grant sight, they do allow for the patient to have a normal appearance and a complete facial structure. Going without an eye entirely can completely alter the structure of a person's face. This is particularly true for children whose facial structure will not develop properly without some sort of prosthetic eye in place. Typical prosthetic eyes can co

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3D Printed Liver Models are Now For Sale

When it comes to testing new drugs the first place that researchers look at is the liver. The reason for this is that the liver's function is to clean the blood. So if a drug is going to have a bad reaction in the body it will most likely show up in the liver. Ideally researchers would like a supply of tiny human livers so that they can continually test new drugs. Up until now, that has been impossible. Using a 3D printer Organovo can create tiny three dimensional livers that can be used to test

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3d Printing Could Change Burn Treatments

For patients with severe burns the recovery process is not an easy one. Skin grafts are created by cutting pieces of the patient's healthy skin and placing them on the burns. This means that the burned patient has to recover both from the burns and from the wounds created for the skin grafts. In as little as five years this process could be completely different. Dr. Marc Jeschke is the head of one of Canada's largest burn treatment centers and he calls the current burn treatment barbaric. Worki

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Fifth Graders Created 3D Printed Leg for Stumpy the Turtle

It seems that there is no end to the animals that will benefit from 3D printing and now the process has become so common place it is child’s play. Stumpy came to the Oatland Island Wildlife Center in Savannah, Georgia with a bad infection to his right front leg. In order to save the 12 year old box turtle veterinarian Lesley Mailer amputated the leg. Stumpy lived, but had a very hard time getting around without his front leg. Luckily for Stumpy, Lesley Mailer remembered her daughter mentioning

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3D Printed Molecules Make Medical Research Easier

For years computers have been able to create large models of molecules that allow scientists to get a closer look at the microscopic particles. However, this was limited by the fact that scientists only had a flat screen to examine and manipulate the molecule. But once again 3D printers have solved this research hurdle and made it easier for researchers to design more efficient drugs and medical treatments. Arthur Olson is a molecular biologist at the Molecular Graphics Laboratory at the Scripp

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3D Printing allows for Regeneration of the Meniscus in Sheep

Millions of American suffer from damaged menisci (the protective lining of the knee) and this can lead to debilitating arthritis. There are few solutions for a damaged meniscus. Small tears can be sewn but larger tears can only be solved by removal of the meniscus (which reduces pain in the patient) but this leaves the knee without its natural shock absorber between the femur and tibia. Without the meniscus the knee is prone to very bad arthritis. There have been attempts to replace the meniscus

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Veterinarians can Regrow Jawbones with the Help of 3D Printing

Veterinarians at UC Davis have become known for their cutting edge approaches to caring for animals. One of these approaches involves regrowing the jaws of dogs who were affected by cancer. Removing the cancerous tumors from the jawbone often involves removing large portions of the jaw as well. In the past this surgery would involve opening up the dog after they had recovered from the cancer in order to see how to build a titanium plate. Now with 3D printing, veterinarians can have the entire t

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Quack Quack is Waddling Once More

It takes a certain type of person to stop and do whatever it takes to save the life of a duck, but that is what happened for Quack Quack. This little duck was attacked by a dog and was left with a severely injured left foot. Following surgery and healing it was discovered that Quack Quack could no longer stretch out his left foot and it had some degree of varus. The deformity in his foot meant that Quack Quack would put all his weight on his right foot and was unable to walk comfortably. This le

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3D Printing Will Soon Help People With Jigger Deformities

In Kenya there is a small flea known as the Jigger or Chigoe flea. This flea does not jump very well but it does bite and this can cause serious problems for people living in Kenya. 2.5 million people, 1.5 million of which are children suffer from jigger infections which can become bad enough to cause secondary infections such as tetanus. Jigger infections can lead to severe deformations and even amputations, most of which occur in the feet. That is where Roy Ombatti comes in. This 23 year old

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Oreo Gets a New Lease on Life Thanks to 3D Printing

By now it is no secret that humans are reaping immense benefits from 3D printing, but they are not the only ones. Even animals are returning to happy and healthy lives due to the advances of 3d printing. Oreo is a six year old mixed breed dog in Canada. Oreo had a dislocated hind patella which had to be surgically removed. Once removed Oreo was healthy but he was not able to run, jump or play liked a normal dog his age. This led his veterinarian to reach out to Orthopedic Innovation Center for h

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3D Printers will Soon Create New Ears for Children

Today when a child is born without ears or with severe ear deformities they may have to undergo four or more surgeries to correct the problem. This not only means months waiting for the process to be completed, but painful recoveries and significant expense. However, researchers at the University College London are about to begin a trial in which they use a 3d printer to create new ears. Early next year researchers will start a clinical trial on children in London and Mumbai to create new ears

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3D Printing Allows Cancer Patient to Keep his Leg

It seems that in nearly every corner of the world 3d printing is finding new ways to revolutionize modern healthcare. A 71 year-old man in Australia was facing surgery in order to treat a rare form of cartilage cancer in his heel. Most patients who need surgery for this type of cancer end up with an amputation below the knee because it is nearly impossible to walk without a heel and until now there was no easy way to create a heel. But Len Chandler had already survived prostate cancer, two knee

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Pediatric Surgeons are Using 3D Printers to Improve their Skills

When it comes to learning how to do surgery, most doctors learn by watching other surgeons first. This creates a learning curve where new doctors are doing the surgery on their own for the first time and may make minor mistakes. This issue is especially prominent in areas of pediatric surgery where the tiny size of the patient makes observation during surgery very difficult. The use of cameras and other technology can make viewing easier but it does not take the place of actual hands on practice

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Revolutionary Advancements in Treating and Studying Cancer

Among the many advances in 3D printing is the ability to rebuild breast cancer tissue. Nano3D Biosciences working with Rainbow Coral Corp has made a breakthrough in the fight against breast cancer. With their NanoShuttle technology and a machine called the Bio-Assembler, they can create 3-dimensional breast tissue. By manipulating cells using magnetic nanoparticles they are able to quickly print cells in a tissue-like structure. This means that it will no longer be necessary to use animals and 2

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A Portable Diagnostic Tool that can Stop HIV and Ebola

In the underdeveloped world diseases ravage impoverished populations. Even worse is that basic medical equipment is too expensive. That means places where the latest technology is the most needed, it is sadly absent. Dr. Aydogan Ozcan is working to change all that by creating the hardware and the software needed to turn ordinary cell phones into powerful microscopes. The best part is that 3d printing makes the device affordable enough to send to third world countries to help stop the spread of H

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3d Printed Device Measures Oxygen Levels in Infants

Around the world the leading cause of death in children under five is pneumonia. In the U.S. doctors have the tools to easily diagnose and treat pneumonia. But in developing countries the tools are not easily available and therefore pneumonia in young children often goes undetected until it is too late. Luckily a new device is hoping to change that. A Massachusetts based company called Design that Matters is using 3d printing technology to create an affordable device for detecting pneumonia. The

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3d Printing Helps Create Prosthetic Jaw for Cancer Patient

A 41 year old cancer patient in Bangalore found himself in need of a prosthetic jaw after he lost a portion of his upper jaw following surgery to remove a tumor. The loss of his jaw made it hard for him to speak and eat, and it was disfiguring as well. Doctors decided they needed to create a prosthetic for him so that he could live a normal life. However, they were faced with a problem, normally a prosthetic would be created by making an impression of the existing jaw. But radiation treatment ha

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Chiropractor in NYC 3D Prints Custom Soles to Help Patients

Most people do not realize that footwear that is unbalanced or does not properly support their feet not only causes foot pain,but it can start a chain reaction that causes leg and back pain as well. Prior to using 3D printed insoles, those in need would either have to deal with mass produced insoles that would not be custom molded to their feet or use custom made insoles that are very expensive. www.it-io.com The SOLS system is quick, affordable and it is incredibly accurate. It is ab

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Student Creates 3D Printed Arm to Assist Those With Non-Functioning Hands

The idea of using 3D printers to create prosthetic hands is not new. Using a 3D printer a prosthetic hand can be created for $50 which is pennies compared to the cost of a traditional prosthetic hand. However, these devices are only designed for people with missing hands or missing fingers. This led a student at Rochester Institute of Technology to create the Airy Arm. The Airy Arm is designed for those who have their hands but do not have function in them. It is a sort of exoskeleton that goes

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3d Printed Heart Enables Doctors to Perform Surgery to Save Infant

Infants born with congenital heart defects often need to undergo surgery quickly to repair the holes in their heart. But for a two week old at a hospital in New York, the surgery was going to be especially difficult. The child’s heart not only had holes that needed to be repaired, but the heart was structured in a very unusual way. Dr. Emile Bacha related the heart chambers to that of a maze. Typically in cases like this, doctors would have to open the chest and stop the heart in order to figure

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