Printers that can make anything
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FROM helping to prepare for heart surgeries to prototype models for castles, guitars or bras — 3D printing is being used across almost all industries now and is increasingly helping us with everyday life.
Once restricted to research laboratories, modern 3D printing technology is being more widely used than ever before, especially in the medical, automotive, and aerospace industries. China is one of the world’s frontrunners in 3D printing, with growing support from the government, which is pushing hi-tech manufacturing.
Integrating 3D printing in the design, fashion and entertainment industries makes it possible to create refined models in a wide range of materials and colors.
The TCT+ Personalize Asia 2016 is one of the biggest professional 3D printing exhibitions in China, and recently attracted more than 110 exhibitors, including Hewlett-Packard, Stratasys, Materialise, XYZ Printing and China-based firms like Golden Laser and Silver Age.
“It’s becoming vertical and useful and meets unique market demands in China,” Lucy Zhai, China general manager of 3D printer market leader Stratasys, said during the trade show.
Spending on 3D printing in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, is projected to hit US$4.3 billion (28 billion yuan) in 2019 with a 23 percent annual growth rate on average, compared to a projected US$1.5 billion this year, according to US-based research firm IDC.
China’s 3D printing industry is expected to hit a revenue of 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) by 2020, five times more than in 2013.
3D printing in medical
3D-printed heart models were displayed in the booth of Belgium-based Materialise, which recently contributed technologies and services in a high-risk heart surgery in Beijing Fuwai Hospital for an 81-year-old man.
With 3D printers, doctors can print patients’ heart models based on CT imaging and prepare for the surgery using the model.
With Materialise’s Heartprint Flex material and technologies, 3D-printed heart models’ texture and density is similar to that of a human heart. They support marking diseased parts and other key areas in the heart models with different colors and materials, which plays an important role in high-risk surgeries such as for infants and the elderly, according to King Francois, general manager of Materialise China.
Wu Yongjian, a doctor at Fuwai Hospital, said that in the recent surgery of an 81-year-old patient, 3D printing helped his team improve accuracy. Doctors also performed a successful surgery using a 3D-printed heart model on a nine-month-old baby suffering from a severe congenital heart defect (CHD) in northeast Jilin Province, Shanghai Daily reported last week.
Materialise has cooperated with Fuwai Hospital and Golden Laser on 3D printing in medical applications and established a 3D print center in the hospital for 3D printing communication and education in China.
At Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, 3D printing has been used in dental operations and cosmetic surgeries, said the hospital’s technology supplier firm Black Ship.
3D-printed skins are also used to prepare for surgery on patients who suffer from serious burns.
3D printers have made various models including human head prototypes, apparels including bras and castles and pyramids.
With a technology called FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), firms are able to print out vivid and usable prototype products even with materials like plastics and resin. For example, a male head with closed eyes printed by Stratasys looked so real visitors of the exhibition said it felt like out of a horror movie.
3D printing in design
On the other hand, metal has been used in 3D printing in sectors like architecture. Dada or Digital Architecture Design Association, founded by 23 architecture designers, has encouraged the adoption of 3D printing technologies. Automotive components and industrial-level gifts made of metal can be made by 3D printers — a huge advantage if they are needed in limited numbers.
By reducing time-to-market and lowering development costs, it boosts designers’ freedom and enhances flexibility of manufacturing.
“3D printing is shaping up as smart solution to improve production quality, accuracy and speed, in almost all industries,” said Rubal Sabharwal, IDC’s analyst.
A handy 3D printing scanner was the highlight of the show, which allows people to scan things with a portable machine and a high-end laptop. The Go-Scan 3D is used in automotive quality testing, artwork protection, home design and game production. For example, it can finish scanning an artwork within an hour, which can be used to make souvenirs, saving a lot of labour and time compared with traditional ways.
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