3-D printing is known by many names such as; architectural modeling, rapid prototyping, stereo lithography and additive manufacturing. Different 3-D printers use different materials to build layers. Some use liquid polymer or gel; others use resin, plastic, or metal nylon and many more other materials. Most people don't know much about additive manufacturing but one of the most important places where it is making a huge difference are in hospitals. Myalynn, who is a young 16 year old girl, is from Westfield Springs, needed to have surgery to have a "piece of abnormal tissue" removed from her brain. Dr. Joseph Madsen the surgeon operating her brain made an MRI or CT scans and made digital model file, and then made a 3-D print of out Myalynn's brain and practiced thoroughly and repeatedly on the model before the day of the surgery. The 3-D printer is a major breakthrough in the medical field, (this also includes veterinarian and the dental field). It allows the surgeon's to be more confident and successful in their field of work. The Boston Children's Hospital found this so helpful that they are going to invest in two more printers for $400,000 each. Every day additive manufacturing is becoming more introduced into the world.
It has only been in the last couple of years 3-D printing has become more well-known and more open for use to the general public. I recently visited a local library and discovered they had five 3-D printers for anybody to use, free of charge. Another example of how quickly additive manufacturing is becoming more popular is in the colleges. I signed up for a Design Tech class at ARC, in fact, the class is being tried out for the first time. There are at least 10-15 3-D printers for the use of the students. I recently successfully made my first model on the printer, it is an accessory for my PlayStation controller. On the controller the rubber begins to peel off after excessive use on the button, my model is a lid to protect the rubber on the controller.
