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3D printing in 2016: year in review

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Most people agree that 2016 was a terrible year in virtually every respect: the conflict in Syria worsened, all of your favorite celebrities died, and Britain voted to leave the European Union. In the 3D printing world, however, things were moderately better: companies like XJet, Nano Dimension, Carbon, and Rize did exciting things; printing giant HP entered the additive manufacturing market; and specific 3D printing technologies like 3D bioprinting reached new levels of sophistication. Here are the most important 3D printing stories of the year 2016:

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3D Printing More Than a Helping Hand for a Wounded War Veteran

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While serving in the military in Afghanistan, Taylor was an unfortunate victim of an IED blast that led to the loss of all four of his limbs. From then on, the quadruple amputee had to make do with the somewhat-better-than-a-hook prosthetic limbs available to returning war veterans. With the billions of dollars that go into making the next generation smartphone, it’s amazing how little is put into the development of prosthetics or bionic extensions for amputees.

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3D Printing Enables Medical Models with Blood, Guts & All

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3D printing has been aiding doctors prepare for numerous surgeries by providing highly-detailed, patient specific models to better inform surgeons before entering the operating room. As accurate as these models have been, some even including color-coded regions to illustrate various organs or problem areas, they have yet to fully replicate the texture of real human tissues. Japanese 3D printing firm Fasotec, previously covered on 3DPI and subsequently purchased by Stratasys, is changing that by creating highly realistic surgical models with 3D printing.

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Scientists Build MicroSLA 3D Printing System for Mass Production of Nerve Repair Guides

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While AM in mechanical mass production (especially in the aerospace sector) is seeking larger build sizes, the opposite is true for the medical field. Here it will be the extremely small and complex parts that will drive the adoption of 3D printing technologies in mass production. One example is the Nerve Guidance Conduits (CNG) developed by a team of scientists through the use of a MicroStereolithography (MicroSLA or µSL) system.

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Artificial Organs May Finally Get a Blood Supply

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Artificial tissue has always lacked a key ingredient: blood vessels. A new 3-D printing technique seems poised to change that.

Using a custom-built four-head 3-D printer and a “disappearing” ink, materials scientist Jennifer Lewisand her team created a patch of tissue containing skin cells and biological structural material interwoven with blood-vessel-like structures.Reported by the team in Advanced Materials, the tissue is the first made through 3-D printing to include potentially functional blood vessels embedded among multiple, patterned cell types.

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3D Printing Aids Doctors in Removal of Nearly Inoperable Tumor from 5-Year-Old Patient

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3D printing has once again proven vital in the the preparation stages of a life saving surgery, as a five year old from Spain named Marc faced a tumor that doctors deemed risky to remove. Since the age of one, Marc has been diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, a common form of pediatric cancer. Normally operating on such a tumor can be relatively simple, but due to the network of blood vessels and arteries surrounding Marc’s growth, doctors at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Esplugues de Llobregat in Barcelona feared causing damage to his liver, kidney, and stomach.

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