For around a decade, 3D printing has been leading to significant medical advancements – both in unparalleled customization of prosthetics or orthopedic implants and in mass producing medical implements, which frees up finances for research. This may feel remote, but users are already prototyping models and tools in Himmelfarb, using the free service available to GW health sciences staff, faculty, and students.
With 3D printing, the use cases are myriad, but we prepared this guide to showcase some possibilities of the technology, especially with our new Bambu printer, which can print multi-color jobs!
Check out our original 3D Printing Use Cases post for model ideas like a stethoscope holder, surgery practice materials, and more. Websites like Thingiverse are the best free aggregator of model files, but you can also find model files at NIH. But for now, here are five medical use cases created here at Himmelfarb.
Molds: Negative Space:
With 3D printing, useful ideas are not limited to shape, they can also utilize negative space – like with this suture-mold. Filled with silicone, you can create your own suture practice board. When thinking of 3D printing use cases, therefore, there’s power in positive – and negative – spatial thinking.
Trachea: A Natural (and Plastic) Flex:
Beyond our standard plastics (ABS and PLA), Himmelfarb has unique options like Z-Flex: a material that prints almost like rubber and can bend and return to its original shape.
This is perfect for anatomical models like the trachea, whose cartilage rings naturally flex with inhalation.
Custom Tags: Scientific Equipment Easily Made:
More durable than paper tags – and still quickly made and requiring almost no filament – models like this tag demonstrate how 3D printing can reproduce common scientific accoutrements economically.
These can also be customized with text such as 5cm, 10cm, etc. And with our Bambu printer, the text can be a different color!
Clinical Education Tools: Brachial Plexus Model
Unlike John Hunter, the father of modern surgery, 21st century physicians don’t have to resort to body snatching if they want to study the human body. They don’t have to use expensive plastic models either, they can 3D print even complex bone/nerve structures – like this 16 piece set meant to display the brachial nerves in their bodily environment. [Note: unlike the example picture, the nerves can be in a different color!].
Badge Holder: Daily Swag:
But of course, 3D printing far exceeds the purely medical. Model sharing sites like the aforementioned Thingiverse host almost anything you can imagine (or more importantly, what many creative people can imagine). For GW life though, you consider unique badge holder in whatever color we have in stock.
We hope these examples give you ideas about how to make use of Himmelfarb’s 3D printing service, and if you like, you can submit a job using the Google Form!
