3D printing in healthcare

7

October

2022

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Nowadays, customization and personalization are becoming more standard practices in many areas, whether it is in retail or in technology. A technology that enables this in many different facets is 3D printing. 3D printing is an upcoming technology that can be used for multiple purposes. Currently, for businesses, it is enabling them to easily create prototypes of their final product. This is called “rapid prototyping” (Hoffman, 2020). The 3D printer allows them to quickly adjust the product and implement potential changes.

In several industries such as healthcare, art and automotive industry 3D printing can be used and an increasing number of ways of applying this technique are found. Especially in healthcare 3D printing can have multiple benefits such as customisation and personalisation, increased cost efficiency, enhanced productivity and democratization and collaboration. For surgeries that involve implants or prosthetics, 3D printing will allow for easier customisation as the prototype can be made at a higher speed and adjustments that are needed can be implemented faster, which thus makes the customisation easier. Also, the speed at which these customised parts are made is much higher compared to the current traditional methods. As these surgeries and therefore the customised parts are relatively low volume, the cost of 3D printing is minimal (Ventola, 2014).  

As mentioned above one current use is the personalisation of implants and prosthetics. There are several more and potentially more complicated applications in the healthcare industry. One application of 3D printing is the bio-printing of tissues and organs. Tissue or organ failure is currently treated by organ transplants, but there is a chronic shortage of human organs. Even if a transplant has taken place, it is still unsure how the body reacts to this new organ and if it will not be rejected. Bio-printing with cells from the patient’s body could eliminate this risk of rejection.

In conclusion, bio-printing is a promising technology that could increase the speed of customisation in healthcare as well as a potential solution to the organ shortage.

Bibliography

Hoffman, T. (2020, July 1). 3D Printing: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from pcmag.com: https://www.pcmag.com/news/3d-printing-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Designers%20use%203D%20printers%20to,and%20novelty%20items%2C%20and%20toys

Ventola, C. L. (2014). Medical Applications for 3D Printing: Current and Projected Uses. P&T, 704-711.

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On-The-Fly Lego’s: Drones with 3D printing capability

3

October

2022

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My drones brings all the prints to the yard

Recently a team of researchers has proven that a team of autonomous drones can work independently to print ánd build (!) (BBC, 2022). Materials needed for the construction or reparation of buildings. These drones, called the Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial-AM), are fully autonomous and use a blueprint as the basis of their 3D printing process. This foundation lets the drones know exactly what to print, where to go, and how to place the printed materials. They would then essentially operate just like bees where each individual drone has a specific purpose and role within the project, but unlike bees the drones are flexible and could change tasks on the fly. The drones have been tested in the laboratory under controlled conditions, where they could manufacture accurately within “five millimeters”. The printing was done using mixes of four types of cement. The researchers explain that further research is needed in collaboration with construction companies and practical use cases to test the drones capabilities in more realistic settings.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

I think the advent of drones capable of 3D printing construction materials can be of tremendous benefit. Drones would be able to reach hard to reach places which could be dangerous as well, not just because of the place’s location, but also weather conditions, for example. A drone is not at risk of slipping and falling of a 500 meters building. Less human labor is needed which will reduce bodily harm from physical labor, costs will probably decrease and revenues probably increase because projects have less downtime while also greater efficiency because drones know exactly what to do based on the blueprints. However, human expertise is still crucial, because they need to give inputs to the drone and make sure the drones do an actual good job.

Source

BBC. (2022, September). Flying 3D printer drones work like bees to fix buildings. Retrieved from bbc: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-62993125

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3D printed food?

8

October

2021

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How does 3D food printing work?

Exclusive 3D printing restaurants are already a thing , while consumers can buy their own 3D food printers for their home! But, first and foremost, let’s explain what 3D food printing actually means. It is defined as the automated process of manufacturing food products using a variety of additive manufacturing techniques. The most common example of this currently is food grade syringes that hold the printing material, while a food grade nozzle deposits it layer by layer, the so-called extrusion-based printing technique. Additional printing techniques include selective laser sintering, in which powdered food materials are heated and bonded together to form a solid structure and binder jetting, which is similar in nature but uses a liquid binder instead of heat to bond the materials. Sometimes there are post-processes needed such as baking or frying, before the food is safe and ready for consumption.

Which foods can be 3D printed?

Not all foods can be 3D printed of course, at least at this point in time with the currently available technologies. The reason for this is that food materials need to be in paste-like form in order to be able to go into the cartridge, thus limiting the options significantly. Consequently, the types of foods that 3D printing is focused in right now come from inputs of purées, mousses and other sugary ingredients, cheeses, mashes and raw meats. On top of these, some companies are also creating 3D printed pizzas and pasta, or even burgers and sushi.

What are the benefits of 3D printing?

One of the important benefits provided by this process is the ability to cater to people with dietary restrictions, as the ingredients can be handpicked and personalized to each person’s needs and wants. The company Barilla for example, is using 3D printing technology to experiment with gluten-free pasta options. Moreover, 3D printed food can be healthier, as it provides the option of putting a custom amount of protein, sugar, vitamins, and minerals into the foods we consume. In a similar context, 3D printing can assist in reducing food waste by utilizing otherwise “useless” food products like meat off-cuts, distorted vegetables and fruits, sea food by-products and perishables, which can all be turned into a suitable form to be used in printing. For instance, Upprinting Food, a Dutch startup, has already been blending and combining different ingredients from food waste and turning them into materials for 3D printing.

Possible uses for 3D printing in the future?

The precision that can be achieved through this technology could prove to be very beneficial to hospitals for example in the future, where restricted diets may be a necessity. Another field that can benefit greatly from 3D printed food is space travel. The compactness and ease of use, as well as the ability to fulfill all the necessary nutritional requirements of astronauts, make 3D printing the ideal solution to cover the crew’s dietary needs. Lastly, 3D printing can be used to provide a sustainable food source to the world, by assisting in the effort to cover the immense and growing need for food due to the rapid increase of the world’s population.

All in all, 3D printing food is an innovative and exciting technology that has a lot of potential to disrupt industries that span several sectors and might seem totally unrelated at first glance. In reality though, 3D printed food is still in its infancy and needs to see a lot more advancement in its field before seeing a broader adoption from professionals and consumers.

References:

Carolo, L. 3D Printed Food (2021): All You Need to Know. all3dp (2021). Available at: https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-food-3d-printing-food/ (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

3dsourced (2021) ‘7 Exciting 3D Printed Food Projects Changing How We Eat Forever’. Available at: https://www.3dsourced.com/guides/3d-printed-food/  (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

Tom, M. 3D Printed Pasta – Are There Limits to the Benefits of 3D Printing in the Food Sector? digital.hbs.edu (2018). Available at: https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/3d-printed-pasta-are-there-limits-to-the-benefits-of-3d-printing-in-the-food-sector/ (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

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Will 3D food printing become as popular as the microwave?

7

October

2018

No ratings yet. Probably the answer is no (is it?), but there are some aspects to 3D food printing that will likely cause this technology to disrupt the food industry.

3D printing is already commonly used to create simple objects. For some nice examples, take a look at https://bit.ly/2qnfpij. However when it comes to 3D food printing, the technology faces some barriers. Printing chocolate or dough is probably not very complex, but some types of food will require a longer and complex process. The most common designs require successive layers of ingredient to cool, leading to long wait times (Straw, 2015). In addition achieving the right texture and flavour for e.g. meat is a lot harder. Moreover, people are very conservative when it comes to food and might not readily accept these “printed meals”.

Nevertheless the technology is very promising. Firstly, creativity is boosted. Think about beautiful shapes or even replicates of pictures that can be made. Secondly, food sustainability is addressed. Alternative but unpleasant ingredients (e.g. algae, duckweed, grass, mealworm) could be used. If these ingredients are mixed in the shape of a cookie, people might actually eat it. Moreover, it is claimed that it would reduce food waste. For example the cartridges could be made environmentally friendly. Thirdly, nutritional customizability is possible which provides solutions for healthy and personalized dieting by allowing users to choose the amounts of calcium, protein, omega-3, and carbohydrates in their meals.

CEO of byFlow, a Dutch company selling and producing 3D Food Printers, announced they want to investigate more into healthier capsules with less or no sugar and no preservatives and into fresh vegetables and fruits. As such, 3D printing could also reinforce a healthy lifestyle. Especially for families who find cooking too time-consuming.

Considering these drawbacks and benefits, what part of the food industry would face the biggest threat by this technology? Grocery shops, bakeries and patisseries, food catering (e.g. for nursing homes), high-end or average restaurants or maybe fast-food chains and budget-friendly food chains?

Sources:

https://disruptionhub.com/disrupted-food-why-3d-printed-food-is-the-future-of-food/

https://blogthinkbig.com/3d-printing-food

https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/3d-food-printing-verstegen-becomes-the-worlds-first-supplier-of-fillings.html

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Would you want to print your own cloths at home?

16

October

2017

No ratings yet. “The Future of Fashion is 3D Printing Clothes at Home” is the title of the article that James Tarmy wrote in 2016 for Bloomberg. Currently, 3D printed clothes are only displayed at specific exhibitions like the Met Costume Institute’s Spring exhibition in New York and worn by models in exclusive fashion shows (Tarmy, 2016). 3D printed cloths are still hard to wear as 3D printed materials have not come close to fabric yet and in addition they are expensive. However, as 3D technology is already recognized as a disruptive technology in many industries, the fashion industry is no exception. The question that arises is whether we could print our own cloths at home in the future.

3D printing is widely seen as one of the emerging technologies of the current era. The technology for 3D printing has existed since the 1980s, but has not been capable and cost effective yet for high volume production. It is expected that this will change within the upcoming years as technology is improving. The 3D printing technique works as follows: solids parts are built by printing one layer at a time. One of the advantages of the 3D printing technique is the speed of production (Redwood, 2015). Specific parts can be produced in just a few hours, compared to several days to weeks in normal manufacturing Another advantage is the accuracy of production, since components are created one layer at the time. These advantages are very useful in the manufacturing industry as new designs are often developed. However, the above-mentioned advantages are not as significant in the fashion industry.

But on the other hand, there would be other advantages of 3D printing that are more relevant to the fashion industry. Wouldn’t it be ideal if you could print your own clothes that have your exact measurements? In today’s world, clothing that perfectly fits your body is often expensive and difficult to obtain. With the use of a 3D printer this could become a possibility. Additionally, the use of a 3D printer would be environmental friendly as there’s no waste of textile. Though, it is important to address that 3D printing within the fashion industry is still in its early stages. Companies have printed some clothing; however, these clothes were extremely stiff and hard to wear. Slowly the design has become more flexible, but it’s still far away from regular clothing, since the combination of 3D printing with fabric has not experienced a lot of growth. As a result, current use of 3D printing within the fashion industry is more focused on hardware like jewelry and footwear.

So, even if you would like to print your own cloths at home, you would still have to wait several years before this could become reality.

References:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-15/3d-printing-is-poised-to-bring-haute-couture-into-the-home

https://www.3dhubs.com/knowledge-base/advantages-3d-printing

https://www.mbtmag.com/article/2016/01/how-3d-printing-will-impact-manufacturing-industry

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Digital Transformation Project – 3D printing technology

13

October

2016

No ratings yet. CabinetCo*, a children’s design furniture company, struggles with the problem of high lead time and production costs. The bottleneck in the production process are the window frames of the cabinets. Due to the labour-intensive nature of these window frames, the supplier repeatedly exceeds the agreed delivery time. To solve this problem CabinetCo considers a 3D-printing solution that has recently been proposed by a 3D printing company. We consult CabinetCo by investigating the possibilities of 3D printing. Two alternatives are considered:

The first one is 3D printing a high injection mould for the window frames. By injecting these steel moulds with plastic material, window frames can be produced quickly. In order to create window frames that are similar to the current wooden window frames  wood-plastic-composite material can be used to mimic the natural material wood.

The second alternative is to print the window frames with an 3D printer. “The downside of 3D printing is that it is limited to a narrow range of plastic, ceramic, biological and metal materials compared to traditional manufacturing processes” (Basiliere, 2016). Therefore we evaluated this solution for two kinds of materials: plastic and wood filament. Wood filament is a mix of plastic and wood fibres that tries to imitate the natural material wood.

Our findings suggest that CabinetCo should not consider 3D printing of the window frames, as this technique will not reduce costs or lead time. The better alternative is the development of a high injection mould, after which the window frames will be constructed of wood-plastic-composites. This will reduce the yearly production costs. Also, it will reduce the lead time with 3 weeks. However, this solution contains a high risk of damaging the authentic image of CabinetCo because the cabinets will be not made out of 100% handmade wood anymore. Therefore, an investment in 3D printing is not recommended. Laser cutting and water jetting are raised as alternative possibilities that require further research.

*Note: Due to a confidence agreement we replaced the company’s name by a fictive name

Source:

Basiliere, P. (2016) What 3D Printing Means for Your Supply Chain [Online] http://blogs.gartner.com/pete-basiliere/2016/04/12/what-3d-printing-means-for-your-supply-chain/

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The rise and fail of 3D printing.

21

September

2016

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I have personally never held a 3D printed object or even attempted to translate my non-existing creativity into 3D printing. When I started doing research for this blog, I assumed, I was tech savvy enough to go to an appliance store, splash out on a 3D printer, and have my first 3D printed watch before midnight (automatic preferably). After this research, I am confident that I am not a 3D-prosumer and that I will not even have printed a potato by the end of the week.

Despite numerous reports and extensive news coverage, the past years, the much anticipated 3D printing disruption revolution has yet to take off. Many start-ups have gone bankrupt due to the slow pace this technology is moving in the consumer market. It is important to start with segmenting the market into consumer, prosumer and professional. A prosumer is a professional consumer whom, related to this blog post, is actually able to successfully print medium complex objects with a low cost commercial printer.

For a professional market such as engineering; rapid prototyping has seen a lot of success with 3d printing1, even the international space station has a printer on board. The same applies for any industry that wants a quick 3D designed object before entering production. A search on YouTube will result in videos of amazing printed objects. From houses, pizzas to surgical implants. Using materials ranging from concrete, resigns to chocolate2. Most of these objects are printed on industrial 3D printers, operated by experts, and are not affordable for normal consumers.

There are commercially off the shelf consumer 3D printers. However, there is a lot more to 3D printing than simply clicking the print button. Prosumers or printing hobbyist are willing to invest resources into fixing, maintaining physical and digital flaws, that low-end printers have. For the regular consumer it does not live up to the promise.

Coolblue offers a 3D printer assortment ranging from 499 up to 2.999 euro. Then, you still have to add the cost of the material and the cost of the object design you want to print.  Plus, the time it will consume to set up the printing process and the time it will take to study how these processes actually work.

As a newbie to this segment, I have no idea if I should buy Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, Polyethylene Terephthalate or simply Polyamide. These are all coils of different filament ranging from 30 to 60 euro a cartridge. That is 600 to 750grams of building material. I am confident that is not even a set of screwdrivers after wasting material in trial and error print sessions. Currently, 3D printing has no absolute or even comparative advantage over low cost, high quality simple consumer products (injection molding).

Luckily, there are numerous sites with freeware and free designs. Thingiverse is one of them and they state that they have 622,520+ designs. Their range of newly uploaded designs is hard to describe; there are toys, tools and a number of mechanical parts used in 3D printers. There are also quite some puzzling designs, from which I cannot infer what they actually are3. Grabcat4 tailores to professional engineering, a hub for digital manufacturing, and promises prints straight from Cad without file conversion. A common problem among other software related issues.

Printer-makers advertise new machines that are faster, use different new technologies, but do not advertise failure rate. One manufacturer is even offering a modular printer that allows you to swap components for future innovations. Seems like work in process rather than a sturdy long lasting device. All marketing videos have 1 thing in common, they fast forward to the final perfect object. Printing an object can take many hours or even days, another feature printer-makers do not advertise. During that time, you have to keep an eye on your printer because the failure rate is actually problematically high on quite a few commercial models. It can result in a half-finished product, due to connectivity issues, but also a big mesh of spaghetti covering your expensive printer with molten plastic.

I wanted to explain some of the technical complications related to the printing process. It escalated from duct-taping your printing plate to extrusion multiplier settings5. I think it is better to read the following post “3D printers are never going to be a real thing6” on Mashable; six failed attempts at a simple object.

If you have abundant time, finances and are willing to become an expert, you can try it as a prosumer. Unless previously addressed issues will not significantly improve, I believe there cannot be a mass consumer market in the near future.

 

 

1              http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology-forecast/2014/issue2/features/future-3d-     printing.html

2              http://www.shapeways.com/materials

3              http://www.thingiverse.com/newest/page:1

4              https://grabcad.com/

5              https://all3dp.com/common-3d-printing-problems-and-their-solutions/#Over-Extrusion

6              http://mashable.com/2016/07/23/3d-printed-failure/#NFxSVSN8CGqm

Coverpicture: http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/

 

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