3D printing involves the manufacture of various objects using the method of successive deposition of material with the help of computer guidance

3D printing is definitely going to reshape the world as we know it. Being relatively new in the market, the scope of 3D printing is massive. It has applications in biotechnology, medical fields, entertainment industries and a number of engineering fields.

This project is going to focus mainly on the applications of 3D printing in various streams.

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Certainly, 3D printing was initially for engineering purposes. However, nowadays, it's involvement in the Science, especially Biology has been tremendous.

Ground Breaking research has helped to apply this technology in areas such as surgery.

There are even projects to build organs using 3D printing! This opens up a whole new domain to 3D printing.

This follows the similar procedure of depositing substances layer by layer however this time organic.

Although this may seem a bit far away, the foundation has been laid for huge developments in Science.AA

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The very first bioprinters weren't expensive or fancy. They resembled cheap desktop printers because, in fact, that's what they were. In 2000, bioengineer Thomas Boland, the self-described "grandfather of bioprinting," eyed an old Lexmark printer in his lab at Clemson University. Scientists had already modified inkjet printers to print fragments of DNA, in order to study gene expression. 

Though the major advancements that 3D Bio printing is still in its research phase,Bio printing firm Organovo of San Diego, California, already sells such tissues to researchers aiming to test experimental drugs for toxicity to liver cells.

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Some examples are-

 Now, stem cells are being bioprinted in several university research labs, such as the Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh. Stem cell printing was the precursor to printing other kinds of tissues, and could eventually lead to printing cells directly into parts of the body.

Hod Lipson, a Cornell engineer, prototyped tissue bioprinting for cartilage within the past few years.  Though Lipson has yet to bioprint a meniscus that can withstand the kind of pressure and pounding that a real one can, he and other engineers are well on their way to understanding how to apply these properties. Additionally, the same group from Germany who bioprinted stem cells is also working toward the same results for bioprinting bone and others parts of the skeletal system.

Just six months ago, bioengineering students from the University of British Columbia won a prestigious award for their engineering and 3D printing of a new and extremely effective type of surgical smoke evacuator. Other surgical tools that have been 3D printed include forceps, hemostats, scalpel handles and clamps – and best of all, they come out of the printer sterile and cost a tenth as much as the stainless steel equivalent.

Another German institute has created blood vessels using artificial biological cells, a 3D inkjet printer and a laser to mold them into shape. Likewise, researchers at the University of Rostock in Germany, Harvard Medical Institute and the University of Sydney are developing methods of heart repair, or types of a heart patch, made with 3D printed cells.

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While an entire organ has yet to be successfully printed for practical surgical use, scientists and researchers have successfully printed kidney cells, sheets of cardiac tissue that beat like a real heart and the foundations of a human liver, among many other organ tissues. While printing out an entire human organ for transplant may still be at least a decade away, medical researchers and scientists are well on their way to making this a reality.

2.Stem Cells

Stem cells have amazing regenerative properties already – they can reproduce many different kinds of human tissue. 

3.Skin

Imagine the uses that printing skin grafts could do for burn victims, skin cancer patients and other kinds of afflictions and diseases that affect the epidermis. Medical engineers in Germany have been developing skin cell bioprinting since 2010, and researcher James Yoo from Wake Forest Institute is developing skin grafting printing that can be applied directly onto burn victims.

4.Cancer Research

In the same way that tissue and types of organ cells are being printed and studied, disease cells and cancer cells are also being bioprinted, in order to more effectively and systematically study how tumors grow and develop. Such medical engineering would allow for better drug testing, cancer cell analyzing and therapy development. With developments in 3D and bioprinting, it may even be a possibility within our lifetime that a cure for cancer is discovered.

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3D printing is the future. We should embrace this technology and use it to help the handicapped, disabled and diseased.

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Magazines which talk about breakthroughs in science like 'Popular Science' and the website popsci.com also provided information about the scope in this field.

Finally, the book, '3D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine' written by Lijie Grace Zhang, John P Fisher and Kam Leong was referred to for additional information.

Pdf's of the above book are available on http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128005477.

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http://www.metmuseum.org/~/media/Files/Blogs/Digital%20Media/3DPrintingBookletforBeginners.pdf

2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3CiJ26YS_U

 3.

Articles from 3D Bioprinting and Nanotechnology in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine 

Authors: Lijie Grace Zhang, John P Fisher and Kam Leong.

Publisher: Academic Press Inc; 1 edition (6 January 2015)

.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128005477

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Journals from

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dietmar_Hutmacher/publication/12255267_Scaffolds_in_tissue_engineering_bone_and_cartilage/links/53feab2a0cf21edafd151cb6.pdf

5.

Articles from the magazine 'Popular Science' and its website,

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/how-3-d-printing-body-parts-will-revolutionize-medicine

6.

Journals from http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v32/n8/full/nbt.2958.html

7.

Journals from

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v32/n8/full/nbt.2958.html

8.

Records from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23598830?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=3D&searchText=printing&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D3D%2Bprinting%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone

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Target Audience:

General Public: Increase Awareness and talk about concerns about this technology.

Scientists, students, teachers: To invoke discussion and inspire the next generation to continue contributing to this field.

Questionnaire:

Q1. What do you know about 3D printing? Have you ever come across the term bio-printing?

Q2. What have you learnt about 3D printing for after reading this project?

Q3. Would you accept a 3D printed organ? (Yes/No)

Q4. What concerns do you have on adapting to this technology?

Q5.Does is conflict with any of your ethical views?AA

3D printing of bio-compatible materials, cells and supporting components into complex 3D functional living tissues.

2.Regenerative Medicine-

Regenerative medicine is a branch of research in tissue engineering and molecular biology which deals with the process of replacing or regenerating human cells to restore normal function.

3.Stem Cells-

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that continually replace the many specialised cells in our body if they are worn out or damaged.

4.Hemostats

It is a surgical tool used in operations to control bleeding .

5.Nanotechnology-

The study and manipulation of atoms on an atomic and subatomic level.

6.Transplantation-

Transplantation is the transfer (engraftment) of human cells, tissues or organs from a donor to a recipient with the aim of restoring function(s) in the body. 

One of the most important application of 3D Bio Printing is to transplant organs which have been made form bio compatible materials into diseased and infected bodies.

2. In order to build new skin and muscle tissue for those who have damaged tissue.

For Example- Skin grafting is used on victims of third degree burns. This involves taking skin from areas such as the thigh, and placing this tissue in the severely burnt areas.

3.In research

Often many ethical conflicts occur during research. Questions like 'Is it right to experiment on humans and other living things?' often arise. If we are able to develop this technology we can use it make organs and other tissues without having such concerns.

4. Creation of Stem Cells

If we are able to create stem cells, this will vastly change the world as we know today. As creation of stem cells, will lead to the creation of organs without having to work about the histo compatibility complex accepting the new organ or not, this may even cure cancer.

5.Helping Amputees

This may even help amputees regain their lost limbs. This is however still a long shot.

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With the help of this, what we once thought of as miracles can be achieved. Stem cells are essentially undifferentiated cells. This means that they can develop to form muscle cells, nerve cells, skin cells and many other types of cells. This would allow us to build organs from bio compatible materials from scratch in such a way such that it cannot be rejected from the body.

This works by tricking the body into believing that the foreign organ was originally a part of the body and will thus prevent our immune system from rejecting it.

If we are able to bio print stem cells, it would lead to-

1.Prolonged Lifespan

2.Eradication of major diseases.

3.Finding the cure for cancer

This will be extremely useful in the field of organ transplantation.

There are 3 main steps to 3D printing.

The first one is the part just before the printing, when you prepare the 3D file of the object you want to print. This 3D file can be created on a CAD software, 3D scanned or directly uploaded from a marketplace. Once you have checked that your 3D file is ready to be printed, you can move forward the second step.

The second step is the process of printing.

First, you need to choose which material you want to use according to the properties of your object. The range of materials used in the research and development of 3D printing is very broad. It includes Plastic, Ceramic, Resin, Metal, Sand, Textile, Biomaterial, Glass, Food and even Lunar dust! Still, at the entry level of the market the most common uses are Plastic, Resin Metal , Ceramic, Sand and there are plenty of finishing options that allow you to create the design you had in mind. The other materials belong for the moment to the research laboratories experiences.

The third step is the finishing operations. This complex step involves specific skills and materials. The object once printed cannot be directly delivered or used it needs sanding, lacquer or painting to obtain the final aspect.

3D printing make it possible to make a part from scratch in just hours. It allows designers and developers to go from flat screen to exact part.

Nowadays almost everything from aerospace components to toys are getting built with the help of 3D printers. 3D printing is also used for jewelry and art, architecture, fashion design, art, architecture and interior design.

anyone who hasn’t seen it demonstrated, 3-D printing sounds futuristic—like the meals that materialized in the Jetsons’ oven at the touch of a keypad. But the technology is quite straightforward: It is a small evolutionary step from spraying toner on paper to putting down layers of something more substantial (such as plastic resin) until the layers add up to an object. And yet, by enabling a machine to produce objects of any shape, on the spot and as needed, 3-D printing really is ushering in a new era. As applications of the technology expand and prices drop, the first big implication is that more goods will be manufactured at or close to their point of purchase or consumption. This might even mean household-level production of some things. (You’ll pay for raw materials and the IP—the software files for any designs you can’t find free on the web.) Short of that, many goods that have relied on the scale efficiencies of large, centralized plants will be produced locally. Even if the per-unit production cost is higher, it will be more than offset by the elimination of shipping and of buffer inventories. Whereas cars today are made by just a few hundred factories around the world, they might one day be made in every metropolitan area. Parts could be made at dealerships and repair shops, and assembly plants could eliminate the need for supply chain management by making components as needed. Another implication is that goods will be infinitely more customized, because altering them won’t require retooling, only tweaking the instructions in the software. Creativity in meeting individuals’ needs will come to the fore, just as quality control did in the age of rolling out sameness.

These first-order implications will cause businesses all along the supply, manufacturing, and retailing chains to rethink their strategies and operations. And a second-order implication will have even greater impact. As 3-D printing takes hold, the factors that have made China the workshop of the world will lose much of their force.

1.Stereolithography :

It is an additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology used for producing models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts up one layer at a time using lithographic methods.

2.Extrusion :

It is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed through a die of the desired cross-section. The two main advantages of this process over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross-sections, and to work materials that are brittle, because the material only encounters compressive and shear stresses.

3.CAD/CAM Software :

Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing. The use of 3D modelling software to aid the design testing and manufacture of parts.

4.ABS Plastic :

crylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a thermoplastic used as a 3D printer material. Often ABS is used as a short form, actually referring to filament made of ABS: 'Do you use ABS in your Mendel?' Be careful that sometimes filament sold as ABS is in fact mixed with other thermoplastic, thus altering its characteristics. The melting temperature is 220-230°C, but can be different if the manufacturer has mixed this with other thermoplastics. ABS is soluble in acetone and can be use to smooth the surface of the print-out.

5.Photopolymer :

Photopolymers are used in light reaction systems either with ultraviolet or visible energy. The liquid material is cross-linked or hardened when exposed to light. Photopolymers are used in both Digital Light Processing(DLP) and Stereolithography(SLA) systems.

http://www.popsci.com/find/3D%20Printing?page=4

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology-forecast/2014/3d-printing/features/future-3d-printing.html

https://hbr.org/2013/03/3-d-printing-will-change-the-world

http://www.csc.com/townhall/insights/94525-how_3d_printing_will_turn_manufacturing_on_its_head

Book from

http://pro.sculpteo.com/en/get/ebook/unstoppable_3D_printing/

Videos from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdzooQQDWGg#t=53

http://www.3ders.org/3d-printing-basics.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=iceiNb_1E0I

Journal from

http://www.springer.com/materials/journal/40861

This survey is being taken to know about the awareness of public about 3D Printing.

Target Audience:

Students of Engineering and Scientists.Input will be used to infer about the benefits and disadvantages of this technology in the future.

Questionnaire:

1.Did this article help you in knowing about 3D Printing?

2.What did u learn about 3D Printing from this Padlet?

3.Is this technology better than the traditonal method to produce tools and objects?

4.Will this technology replace the traditional method, which is being used now, in the coming future?

2. Once I found the article, I read the article and browsed about the technology on google till I had an in-depth idea about it.

3. I saw quite a few videos on YouTube and also read some more articles that helped me understand the topic better.