FSTDT Forums
Community => Science and Technology => Topic started by: dpareja on May 23, 2013, 11:00:35 pm
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/05/23/airway-splint-baby-grow.html (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/05/23/airway-splint-baby-grow.html)
In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.
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In a single day, they "printed out" 100 tiny tubes, using computer-guided lasers to stack and fuse thin layers of plastic instead of paper and ink to form various shapes and sizes. The next day, with special permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they implanted one of these tubes in Kaiba, the first time this has been done.
Suddenly, a baby that doctors had said would probably not leave the hospital alive could breathe normally for the first time. He was 3 months old when the operation was done last year and is nearly 19 months old now. He is about to have his tracheotomy tube removed; it was placed when he was a couple months old and needed a breathing machine. And he has not had a single breathing crisis since coming home a year ago.
This is why 3-D printing is awesome.
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I agree with this. Things like this are where 3D printers can, and should, come into their own. I hope to heat more stories like this real soon.
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I do hope they don't crack down on this potentially life saving tech because of a few knuckleheads that want to make zip guns.
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that is fucking awesome. Go science!
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This is particularly good use of a 3-D printer because they can make unique items with it without a need for molds or stuff like which are costly to make.
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3D Printers are incredible! In the future, they'll probably be ubiquitous.
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The same machine that prints out guns prints out life saving airway tubes, much like the way water gives life to man yet has the capacity to take it a way. The duality of nature sure is a funny thing.
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Thinking of all the potential medical applications of this technology has my head spinning. This is seriously awesome.