Experts believe that perhaps the greatest area of potential need and growth for 3-D printing is in the medical field. Indeed, in April 2013 The Wall Street Journal ran: ‘Next to Use 3-D Printing: Your Surgeon’.
At RAFT we see ourselves playing a major role in this amazing future through a collaboration with the UCL Eastman Dental Institute. This will provide for a three-year PhD scholarship to research using 3-D medical printing to treat major bone problems in the facial, head and neck region due to congenital deformities, cancer or trauma.
Defects in this area are extremely hard to treat and currently, reconstructive surgeons rely on metal implants or external prosthetics – both of which are associated with particular problems.
According to surgeons, there is a risk of corrosion with metal implants that can lead to metal toxicity, while the use of external prosthetics impairs aesthetic functions that can lead to pa...
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