BY KIM BELLARD
You know we live in the 21stNS Century when people 3D printing chicken and cooking with lasers. They had me at “3D Printing Chicken”.
A Article in NPJ Food Science explains how scientists combined additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) of food with “precision laser cooking,” providing “a higher level of spatial and temporal control over food processing than traditional cooking methods”. And by the way, the color of the laser is important (e.g. red is best for tanning).
Very nice, but wake me up when they get around to it Replicators… what they will be. In the meantime, others are not only printing individual houses, but entire communities in 3D. It reminds me that we haven’t yet fully realized how revolutionary 3D printing can and will be, including for healthcare.
The New York Times profiled the creation of a village in Mexico with “a three-meter high three-dimensional printer”. The project, built by New story, a non-profit organization focused on providing affordable housing solutions, chale, a Mexican social housing manufacturing company, and symbol, a construction technology company, is building 500 homes. Each house takes about 24 hours to build; 200 have already been built.
Here is a video of the process:
Nobody knows how durable the houses will be over time, but they have already weathered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, something that would have been appreciated in, for example Haiti. Most importantly, they provide a home to people who would otherwise have been homeless or living in inferior conditions.
Brett Hagler, CEO and Co-Founder of New Story, said The times: “We know that we can build faster without sacrificing quality, that we have to make big leaps if we want to advance the subject of living at all during our lifetime.”
“We are really looking for the greatest ways to have both impact and efficiency,” added New Story co-founder Alexandria Lafci. “3D printing offers a very significant gain in speed without compromising quality.”
There are 3D printed residential projects around the world including Austin (TX), Rancho Mirage (CA), and Tallahassee (FL). The Tallahassee Developers boasted: “Make no mistake, these houses are not your average test model. The finished product is far superior in terms of strength, durability and efficiency. ”
Faster, cheaper, more durable – what can you not like?
Canada’s first 3D-printed house, known as the Fibonacci House, has curved walls just because builders could. “Exciting or aesthetically pleasing architectural features can now be implemented with practically no cost comparison.” called Ian Cornishin, President of the company that built it.
Here is her video:
This firm, Twente additive manufacturing, is now working with non-profit World apartments build a 3D printed community called Sakura Place. Don McQuaid from World Housing says: “We believe that technology will be the solution to homelessness, and we believe that everyone deserves a home.”
The ruler of Dubai is such a huge fan that he is has decreed that by 2030 25% of all buildings – not just houses – are to be built with 3D printing technology “in order to promote Dubai as a regional and global hub for the use of 3D printing technologies”.
It’s a new world for building. Housing expert Brad Hudson noticed: “The housing industry has not changed its general methods of housing construction in the last 50 years. Innovations like 3D and modular construction will gain popularity. ”
So it will be for healthcare. I have written beforehand about prescription drug 3D printing which offers the fascinating, if not scary, option of printing your own medication at home, but that’s just one example of how healthcare is starting to see the potential of 3D printing.
Scientist from the Israel Institute of Technology 3D print a network of blood vessels to support implanted tissue, which traditional approaches have not achieved. The researchers believe it is “a versatile and adaptable technique that can pave a new path to fully laboratory-grown patient-specific tissue”.
Here is her video:
We’re not there yet to 3D print human organs for transplants, but we are close, and in the meantime we are 3D printing prosthetics. The NIH says:
3D printable prosthetics are changing the face of medicine as engineers and doctors are able to design prostheses that are completely tailored to the wearer. Consumer 3D printing is leading to an even bigger revolution: “DIY” tools that can be printed by virtually anyone, anywhere.
Imagine this world.
Some experts think The healthcare 3D printing market is already a billion dollar market and will be $ 6 billion by 2030, which is nowhere near enough. Where is the ruler of the Dubai healthcare system demanding 25% of the construction (or manufacturing) of healthcare with 3D printing by 2030?
3d printing helped decrease the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, when demand skyrocketed and supply chains crashed at the same time, but not fast enough and not in sufficient quantities. Supply chains are wiggle again, but when health organizations increased their 3D printing capabilities to prepare for bottlenecks, I missed it.
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There are really two types of thinking that we need to practice here. One is what we’re doing now that 3D printing would be at least as good at? It’s like building houses with 3D printing; They’re not reinventing houses, but they are reinventing how they’re built, hoping for a faster and cheaper way to go. Ideally, it could lead to more affordable homes and perhaps have a major impact on homelessness.
In healthcare, for example, cheaper and better fitting prostheses are manufactured much faster.
The second is what can’t we do now that 3D printing could? Work on human organs, tissues, or blood vessels falls into this category, but should not be the limit of the category.
It’s easy to see how 3D printing can be one of the things that help us address the homelessness / affordable housing issue. Similarly, how can it help us to address the problem of lack of access to health care / affordable health care?
Thank You For Reading!
Reference: thehealthcareblog.com
