Science has today revolutionized the way we live our lives. Even handicap people can now regain many functions of the missing limbs using artificial body parts called prosthetics. In early days prosthetics were expensive as they were made only using injection moulding techniques. Injection moulding though produce high quality, light weight and durable plastics ideal for prosthetics but they are proven to be expensive for small volume production. Advancements in science keep pushing the frontiers of technology and the result is that today it is possible to obtain much less expensive and quicker prosthetics by using 3D printing also known as additive manufacturing. 3D printing is a very-very good alternate for injection moulding as it offers fast turnaround time and low cost even for small production thus making it ideal for prosthetics.

3D printing is an additive process of producing three dimensional solid objects from digital files. In this process successive layers of material are deposited one upon other to create the desired object. To create a 3D object, its virtual design is created using a 3D modelling program in a Computer Aided Design file and the file is uploaded into the 3D printer which then creates the 3D object, layer by layer.

Image Source - cerasis.com

General Prosthetic making process is cumbersome taking weeks while a 3D printed prosthetic limb can usually be made in a day. Commercially prosthetics are expensive costing between $5000 and $50,000 whereas 3D printed prosthetics cost around $50 only. 3D printed prosthetics are changing face of assistive medical field by developing prosthetics that are customized for the patient or user. Today experts have even developed 3D printed skin for burn victims, facial reconstruction parts for cancer patients etc. Jaw surgery and knee replacement operations are also routinely carried out using surgical guides printed on machines. This fast developing technology is widely used to customize hearing aid shells and ear moulds, dental crowns and bridges from digital scans to generate replica of biological body parts. It is rapidly replacing the traditional wax modelling methods used for centuries. Figures below show the 3D printed prosthetics.

Image Source - www.forbes.com

Image Source - http://www.3ders.org

3D printing is a powerful tool that can create almost anything from furniture, houses, bridges to organ tissues and cells. Simplified and cheaper production of prosthetics using 3D printing is a ray of hope for people who lose their limbs in accidents, for soldiers, for kids with some deformity etc. It relieves them from the agony of dependency.

By - Anshu Sharma, Asst. Prof., Department of ECE, Chitkara University, H.P.