Cory Blake
Cory Blake Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 1/22/14 Importance of 3D printing in the Medical world
While ! printing is still on the up an" coming #ith the general public$ it has pro%en to be %ery use&ul in me"ical &iel"s' (or this pro)ect$ I #ill be e*ploring the ne# uses o& ! printing in the me"ical #orl"' (rom replacing #hole parts o& the bo"y such as ears$ noses an" &ingers to helping patients recei%ing a skin gra&t$ "octors are #orking on #ays to make these nee"e" parts using ! printers' !octors use a bio"egra"able &abric in&use" #ith actual cells &rom the host$ ma"e by arti&icially gro#ing them in a laboratory' +ony ,tala$ "irector o& the Wake (orest Institute &or -egenerati%e Me"icine seems to be the most inter%ie#e" person #hen "ealing #ith this topic' +hrough his research$ they ha%e ma"e all types o& &unctionable organs e*cept &or ma)or$ har" organs such as hearts$ lungs an" ki"neys' While not &unctional$ the har" organs that they ha%e been able to make ha%e been use" to test the si"e e&&ects o& certain "rugs on these organs' !uring my research$ a lot o& #ebsites an" sho#s co%ere" the uses o& ! printing' I #as able to &in" stories on sites like .u&&ington post$ +E! talks$ (o* ne#s an" the national )ournal' /outube ha" a huge selection o& %i"eos to #atch on this topic as #ell' I also talke" to my &rien"s an" parents about the topic to see i& they ha" hear" any &urther in&ormation on this topic'
Cory Blake
Bouncing topic i"eas o&& o& other people really playe" a big role in helping me narro# my topic "o#n to a speci&ic use o& ! printers' +his topic is %ery comple* because it coul" change the me"ical #orl" as #e kno# it' 0eople #oul" no longer ha%e to #ait years to get a ne# organ i& they nee" one' We #oul" not ha%e to #orry about a bo"y re)ecting an organ or the sprea" o& "iseases through the "oning process' While most people are all &or the i"ea o& ! printing organs$ some people &eel that this is #ay too much po#er that coul" be ma"e public to the mass public' +o people #ho ha%e a ! printer$ can get ahol" o& the algorithm to make the organ an" can get the material nee"e"$ they coul" potentially make a human organ' 1ome groups argue that "oing this is 2scientists playing 3o"4$ an" that this type o& technology shoul"n5t be use"'
With this topic$ I #oul" like to kno# ho# soon it #oul" be be&ore #e coul" make &unctional ma)or organs' I am intereste" in ho# ! printers #ill a&&ect the me"ical #orl" because I am thinking about entering the me"ical &iel" mysel&$ an" I #oul" like to kno# ho# this is going to a&&ect my )ob' I am also intereste" in this topic because I ha%e ha" &amily members that ha%e nee"e" organs an" ha%e been stuck on #aiting lists &or years to get them' +he &act that ! printing #oul" "rastically "ecrease the amount o& people #aiting as #ell as the length on #aiting is a groun" breaking e%ent' ,lso$ ho# are they going to replicate the small bloo" %esicles or the ner%e en"ings in the ma)or organs6 Without bloo" &lo# through organs like the heart$ a ! replacement #oul" ob%iously pro%e useless'
When con"ucting research &or the use o& ! printing in the me"ical #orl"$ I #ill go to the library an" ask one o& the librarians about the resources a%ailable on ! printing' I #ill also be rea"ing articles on #ebsites such as scienti&icamerican'com an" the7scientist'com' ,long #ith
Cory Blake
research con"ucte" on the internet$ I #ill search on +E! talks &or seminars on this sub)ect$ an" I #ill see i& there are any more articles in maga8ines such as 1mithsonian maga8ine an" (orbes maga8ine' I #oul" also like to check the school "atabase &or sources that coul" co%er ! printing to see i& anymore scholarly #ebsites ha%e articles on this topic'
