first seen on Hack-a-Day...
Need a new mandible (jaw?) Print one. Using layers of titanium powder built up to form a 3D custom mandible for a patient, LayerWise in conjunction with Xilloc Medical as well as medical professionals from a range of disciplines have pushed 3D printing to practical extremes. Unlike previous medical uses of 3D printing, also known as "rapid prototyping," this creation is a fully functioning, permanent implant, not a model conceptualization of one.
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| Billed as the "very first customised 3D-printed lower jaw" the Xilloc mandibular implant is constructed out of titanium powder layer by layer fused by a high intensity laser. Coated with an artificial bone-like substance and outfitted with everything needed to be successfully implanted into a patient, the replacement-jaw is a living example of science-fiction become reality. |
Initially used for prototyping, a growing number of processes are being developed to produce custom products, short run production of real components used in functional objects, and in the case of this latest achievement, high-quality, state-of-the-art permanent medical implants. The process utilized by LayerWise is described on their website. While similar to other additive manufacturing processes in theory, what makes LayerWise's process interesting is the fact that they use metals in their 3D printing process, while most processes today use different forms of plastic. A high-intensity laser traces, layer-by-layer a 3D design broken down into multiple 2D slices - the result is a precision-built 3D object.
