Scientists Build Vascular Network Using Sugar and a 3-D Printer

Check out the coverage of IEEE Spectrum:

Scientists Build Vascular Network Using Sugar and a 3-D Printer

RapidPro 2012 - Cheap desktop 3D printing

Open source desktop 3D printers come as cheap as €650,-. For more information on these, check out the FabLab in your region.

 The Ultimaker

Makerbot

Commercial desktop models are also available already starting around €2000,-. Prices like these bring 3 D printing to the customer. This could also mean that in medicine, especially in orthopedics and facial reconstruction, the use of 3D models will catch on once these printers find their way into the hospitals and universities. Another good example would be to use the models in medical education. Limitation of the cheaper systems could be their limited size which limits the size of the model to about 20 centimeter cubic.

RapidPro 2012 - The role of RM processes in 'digital dentistry'

A presentation by dr. Martin Klare of Dreve ProDiMed GmbH on the use of rapid manufacturing in dentistry. Based on the digital imaging data they design individualized models. Ceramic substructures and/or dental models are reconstructed based on these computerized models. This required development of specialized software to construct these models and to simulate procedures using the computer based on the scanned data. As an example this allows virtual design of dental models based on the digital data, and 3D reconstruction of dental implant models. Results are then used for the rapid manufacturing using dedicated, high precision, dental rapid manufacturing printers.
The software development for the modeling and planning is still very much work in progress and has to be developed further.

RapidPro 2012 - Patient specific implants produced with Additive Manufacturing Technology based on CT

Great presentation by Maikel Beerens from Xilloc Medical B.V. On patient specific implants produced with Additive Manufacturing Technology. They are a Dutch company that makes specially designed implants that are patient specific based on the CT dataset obtained from the patient. They are working on an online order system for the physician to easily construct and order the implants required. He really showed the direct application of additive manufacturing to build both the anatomical models of the patient and the actual implants based on convincing patient cases where the patient really had a large benefit from these implants. They use a hydroxy appetite coating on the implants to increase ingrowth of soft tissue.
It is difficult to get this technique accepted in medicine, but the cost reductions are significant.

RapidPro 2012 - Additive Manufacturing for Dummies

AM - Additive Manufacturing.
Today I went to RapidPro 2012, a conference on rapid prototyping. In medicine this could be beneficial not only for modelling (where it is already used to model bone structures and skulls for preparation of interventions) but also for the, relatively cheap, construction of phantoms.
A presentation by Benjamin Denayer on 'additive manufacturing for dummies' showed that multiple techniques are now available to construct objects using additive manufacturing. They range in the way the model is built and the materials that are used. Also the resolution of the model varies with the different methods, up to 0.02 mm. When we would like to construct phantoms for CT or MR scanning the materials used to build the model are extremely important since they should have material properties that relate to the tissue we want to mimic.
Another challenge is that all systems are relying on CAD (Computer Aided Design) software data resulting in an STL file and not able to directly import DICOM data. The STL format contains a triangulation of the dataset resulting in a surface model of a certain resolution which can be used for the modeling.
Upcoming are the DIY systems that are cheap, open source, and easy to use.