3D printing brings promise of printed prostheses, organ replacements to PHL

It sounds creepy and it was the stuff of science fiction but printing a limb replacement is now a reality in the Philippines, thanks to 3D printing technology.

Properly called additive manufacturing, 3D printing is one of the technologies featured in the 2014 Digital Innovation Summit at the Norde Innovation Center along Kalayaan Avenue, Quezon City from June 24 to 28.

“Filipinos are inherently ingenious. With the capabilities of technology we have this year, the possibilities in transforming concepts to concrete products are endless. We are truly excited to share how these technologies will allow them to compete better – not just locally but globally as well,” said Allan Hao Chin, president of Norde International Distributors, a distributor of industrial digital printing equipment.

“The more people rely on the Internet, the demand to go digital progresses as well. People want to see and experience more personalized products, when they want it and where they want it,” Chin said.

The Digital Summit featured printing solutions for architects, manufacturers, engineers, retail, fashion, and interior designers. The companies featured in the summit included international printing leaders such as Hewlett-Packard, Stratasys, Pantone, X-rite, ESKO, Kornit Digital, Sekuworks, Taopix, and GMG.

3D printing

Technology experts expect 3D printing to radically change the way people live.

According to a recent TechEdge report, “3D printing will make life as we know it today barely recognizable in 50 to 75 years.”

The report said 3D printing will make it realistic for the majority of people to live to a hundred years or so because organs and veins can already be bio-printed.

On the opening day of the 2014 Digital Summit, Glenn Quiambao, sales manager of Stratasys, a major manufacturer of 3D printers and 3D scanners, said whatever people can imagine can now be digitally printed.

Quiambao said the idea for a 3D printer started when Stratasys founder and fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology inventor Scott Crump was making a toy for his daughter in his kitchen using a glue gun, polyethelane (the most common plastic material) and candle wax.

Through 3D printing, Crump produced a physical object directly from digital data.

Quiambao said the practical uses of 3D scanners and 3D printers will change the way anything is made, even food.

The usual way of building things is through the subtractive mode. For example, when making an object from wood, parts are chipped away until only the desired product is left.

3D printing, however, uses the additive mode, where parts of an object are added layer by layer until the product is completed.

With 3D printers, the manufacturing time is also significantly less, Quiambao said, adding that 3D printing will make manufacturing strategies more efficient, precise, and cost-effective.

However, 3D scanners and 3D printers are still too costly for individual or private use. 3D scanners range from P2.4 to P11 million. 3D printers, on the other hand, can cost anywhere from P750,000 to P25 million.

Two technologies for 3D printers

Quiambao explained that Stratasys uses two technologies in 3D printing: FDM and polyjet technology.

FDM “uses filament to make the prototypes. The filament is melted by the machine and jets it layer by layer,” Quiambao explained.

Polyjet printing, on the other hand, “is similar to inkjet printing. It jets layers of curable liquid photo polymer into a built tray. The printer jets up instantly and UV light cures the prototype at the same time,” he added.

FDM uses two materials for 3D printing: a modeling material and a support material, acting as scaffolding.

Once an object has been 3D printed, the user breaks the support material away or dissolves it in detergent and water.

For polyjet printing, similar to inkjet printing, the machine jets layers of curable liquid photopolymer onto a build tray.

A program calculates how photopolymers and support materials will be placed based on a 3D CAD file. Then the 3D printer jets and UV-cures tiny droplets of liquid photopolymer.

Once an object has been 3D printed, the user removes support materials by hand or by washing them with water.

Although complicated, Quiambao said the process will speed manufacturing up greatly.

“Normally it takes 45 minutes to two hours. But in terms of the traditional way of manufacturing, 45 minutes or two hours or even 24 hours is fast compared to traditional moulds [that take] two weeks or two months [to build].” — JDS, GMA News