Ateneo Professional Schools
June 2, 2016
I had plans of having demo of 3d printer in the entrep class, mainly as a novelty for new ideas, and business concept. The 3d printer can speed up protyping especially of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for Start Ups (popularized by Erick Ries) My daughter works at such a firm, and this presentation works both ways: to help her in her job, and to show something unique in the class.
I did not realize the value of such a device in the medical profession, until I saw this afternoon a feature at CCTV (a Chinese TV channel) that says that "3d printing shows greatest potential in the medical field. There was a 3d printing exhibit and conference in Shanghai and yesterday was the last day.
And so I researched and found this article:Uses of 3d printing in medical field
The estimated share of medical field in 3d printing would be 21% which is likely to be $8.9 billion in the next ten years. It is currently at $700 million with only $11 million in medical field.
Its current uses are in orthopedics and cosmetic surgery: fabrication of implants, prosthesis, ears, noses, skulls, bones etc. A 3 d printer can be used in fabricating medicine delivery system, or even in customized drug dosage.
But its biggest promise is in organ transplant which is estimated to be a $200 billion industry. Many patients are awaiting donors and there are many legal and ethical issues involved. Organs can be fabricated using 3d printers using stem cells and cells from the target donor. Although this is still in infancy stage.
This is an interesting topic for our classmate who is specializing on stem cell. This is an interesting area of research for her to study organ fabrication using 3d printer. (Or can she collaborate)
What do you think?
as of 16 Mar, 2014 
