Special: 3D printing reshapes manufacturing
2013-08-20 16:22
By Hao Yan (chinadaily.com.cn)
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Developed in the 1980s, 3D printing has been used in engineering since then. But now it has extended to myriad fields, from bioscience and medicine to auto parts, aerospace, clothing and fashion - and food.
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In March, 2013, US doctors used 3-D printed artificial skull bones, and replaced 75 percent of a patients' skullcap that had been severely damaged, with approval from the FDA.
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In 2012, specialists in the US created an airway device with a 3-D laser printer with approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, and saved a baby boy, whose birth defect had caused his throat's airway to collapse frequently. |
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In 2011, researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands created and implanted an entire 3-D printed lower jaw for an 83-year-old woman. It was the world's first complete 3-D printed implant.
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In 2002 CT and MRI data was used to 3-D print anatomical models of conjoined twins from Egypt in the United States, to plan for the separation surgery. The surgery succeeded in 2003, and the twins lived six years.
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Stocks surge in 3D printing sector
Stocks in China's 3D printer makers surged in December 2012, after the ministry made the remarks on a long-term route map for 3D printing technology to boost development.
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