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DA 2: Review the following news item to motivate your discussion.

Hospitals printing 3-D hearts to help in surgeries

For your discussion, I am including below links to news item (and videos) detailing how doctors and hospitals are developing models of patients’ hearts using 3-D printing technology to help them better prepare for surgical procedures. Using 3-D printing, their goal is to create an online database of 3-D printed heart from patients with congenital heart defects, which will help standardize the process of printing hearts.

3-D printing technology is offering a revolutionary way to develop to pursue new product development in all industrial settings. Back in 2014 when I was doing my clinical research sabbatical fellowship at NIH, 3-D printing application were being explored in prosthetic devices as well. Lately, these 3D-printable prosthetics are changing the face of medicine. Consumer 3D printing is leading to a “DIY” assistive devices revolution.

Provide your opinion on what your learned from these news items. In your discussion, you may include your insights on how else can 3-D printing be used in medical care and on how manufacturers in other industries are now using, or can use, this product development technology.

News Item 1 (include videos): Hospitals printing 3-D hearts to help in surgeriesLinks to an external site. (Links to an external site)

News Item 2: 3D-Printable Prosthetic DevicesLinks to an external site. (Links to an external site)

No citations please and below is a sample post posted by my class mate.

With about 3000 patients currently waiting patiently for a heart transplant, 3-D printable hearts might be the miracle everyone was waiting for. I think 3-D printing will solve a lot of problems that we are now facing in the medicinal sector. One of the big problems hospitals are facing is the number of organs they have readily available for surgeries. I wouldn’t stop at the hearts just yet! Think of all the wonderful lives we could change for the good. I wouldn’t only limit 3-D printing to just hearts I would make arms, lungs, livers, and this could possibly go as far as nerve replicas.

On the other hand, will you still be considered human if your running around with prosthetic device as your organ? This will open up a huge range of disadvantages that might outweigh the advantages. Where will this new technology lead us to? Will we be able to completely replace humans altogether? How will this have effects on the black market? Can this technology get into the wrong hands?

I think 3-D printing is a great new tool and way to look at the medicinal field. This new technology will change and save so many people’s lives. There will have to be lots of new regulation and safety measures that come with this. I mean what’s next do your own lung transplant at home kit? Technology moving fast is great, but when it moves this fast in such little time it can be scary.