Component Parts of a Rat MRI machine
Proof X: Helping Surgeons and Patients
For example, Proof X successfully printed an articulating, patient-specific spine for a pedicle operation. The print was used to guide for the surgeon during the operation, where 17 pedicle screws and connecting bars were carefully positioned and inserting into the patient’s spine.
Surgical Guide for Pedicle Procedure
Proof X was also able to print out a surgical planning tool of a patient’s exploded hip (ouch). The print allowed the surgeon to “identify the bone fragments in relation to other parts of the body. “ This allowed the surgeon to view the hip while keeping the relative position of 13 bone fragments in place.
Surgical Planning Tool for Exploding Hip
But does Proof X only serve the medical industry with their Makerbot and Connex printers? Not at all. Besides having the coolest name in the industry, they also converted mesh files to print out Hollow Man for David Dorman, one of the original illustrators of the Star Wars movie, for his graphic novel series, Wasted Lands.
Hollow Man
Medical Applications involving the use of 3D printing, scanning and software (Reality Computing, if you ask Autodesk) have been indicated as one of the most important forces driving the rapid adoption of the technology by the Wohler’s report, Markets and Markets, Gartner’s Hype Cycle and 3D Printing Industry. By now, regular readers will be familiar with success stories involving patient-specific prosthetics and customized orthotics applications. One of the biggest challenges to any company in the medical field is complying with intricate and potentially challenging regulations. Similarly, the 3D printing industry as a whole, is reaching a point at which certain regulations are being discussed and implemented (i.e Philadelphia) but have to be carefully counterbalanced by the open-source ethos that not only brought it into being, but continues to encourage widespread innovation.
