• Question: Why do you use a 3D printer?

    Asked by 873artc37 to Andrew, Lizzie on 14 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by AmeliaaButeraa.
    • Photo: Andrew Phillips

      Andrew Phillips answered on 14 Jun 2015:

      We use a 3D printer because I don’t think we could manufacture the structure of the bone that we want any other way. It is too complex to cast or make by hand. We briefly looked at a process of bubbling gas through a material to create a structure but quickly decided that it was not precise enough for the bone structure that we wanted to produce. I don’t think 3D printing is the answer for everything, but it is for what we are doing at the moment. In the future we want to develop different materials to print from.

    • Photo: Elizabeth Kapasa

      Elizabeth Kapasa answered on 25 Jun 2015:

      Hi Amelia,
      In addition to what Andrew said, 3D printers also give the opportunity for custom making things to fit complicated shapes by using the patient’s scans. Its a much easier, accurate and sometimes cheaper way of doing that.

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