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The Future of 3D Printing and Healthcare

When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as  airplane  and  automobile parts  to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in  the 1980s  as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and  patient-specific models  to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
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THE PROMISE OF GRAPHENE


Image result for promise of grapheneHopes are high for graphene, an ultra-thin material that has been labelled as possibly “the most amazing and versatile substance available to mankind.” Graphene was first isolated in 2004. By the end of 2015, according to a company spun out of the United Kingdom's National Graphene Institute, a first commercial product using the substance will go on general sale: a graphene lightbulb.
Graphene is a one-atom-thick crystal made of a carbon lattice. It has been called the world's first two-dimensional material and it offers a range of properties that mean it could be used in a very wide range of applications. It is lightweight and flexible but has been rated 200 times stronger than steel. It is also highly conductive, meaning that it could offer significant energy efficiency benefits.
The substance was isolated at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom by Russian researchers Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov. They subsequently won Nobel prizes in physics for their work. Since it was isolated there has been a rapid influx of public investment into graphene, not least the £61 million provided by the UK government and the European Regional Development Fund for the National Graphene Institute, based at Manchester University.
Meanwhile, a massive €1 billion has been provided by the European Commission, EU member states and private partners for the Graphene Flagship, the EU's biggest ever research initiative, which launched in 2013. The Graphene Flagship is coordinated by Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, and involves researchers from universities and companies from most EU countries, Belarus, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey.
The hype surrounding the graphene lightbulb gives an indication of why there is such great interest in the material. According to its developers, Graphene Lighting PLC, the lightbulb will be 10% more energy efficient than current lightbulbs because of the conductivity of graphene. The new bulbs will also have longer lifespans and, according to Graphene Lighting director Colin Bailey, will be cheaper to manufacture than current lightbulbs, as well as being made of “more sustainable components,” promising environmental benefits compared to current technologies.
The company has not provided further details about the lightbulb or so far made public any detailed information on its environmental performance relative to current lightbulbs. However, the lightbulb could be an indication of things to come. Since it was announced, researchers have also worked on graphene-based RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips and wireless sensors, which they say are “environmentally friendly and could be cheaply mass-produced” to replace current RFID chips, which are used for tagging products and animals (for example, pet identification chips).
Lightbulbs and RFID chips are just two examples of the potential uses of graphene. Other uses could include electronics, aviation and medicine. Another use that has been put forward is desalination of seawater – the water could be filtered through graphene, which would remove everything apart from water molecules. Testing of graphene has indicated that it can also be used to remove contaminants, including radioactive contaminants, from wastewater, and can be applied in the decontamination of soil. It could also replace metals in electronics, meaning less need for high-cost raw materials which have high environmental impacts from their extraction.
Development work on graphene is, however, only at the beginning. The €1 billion in EU support for the Graphene Flagship will fund a decade of research, into the 2020s. By then it is hoped many more environmentally-beneficial applications of graphene will have been tested.

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The Future of 3D Printing and Healthcare

When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as  airplane  and  automobile parts  to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in  the 1980s  as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and  patient-specific models  to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
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