Using 3-D Printers for Artificial Limbs

The rise in 3-D printing is not just about being able to create your own customized cufflinks or action figure. Researchers are discovering that the technology is helping to create better prosthetic limbs . An article in CNET News by Daniel Terdiman looks at a presentation by industrial designer Scott Summit that discusses "the idea that the era of blind adherence to uniformity may well be at an end," thanks in part to 3-D printing. Summit has been working on plastic and metal "3-D printouts of legs" that are even dishwasher safe. Those amputees who have gotten early versions of these prostheses, Summit says, have gotten "admiring comments from kids and even girlfriends." It's a great way of using this developing technology and can dramatically improve the life of those who require prosthetic limbs. It'll be interesting to see what other new uses come along for 3-D printing.