Press for Life - 3D Printing
Akhil Hanmantgad Organ transplants save lives. [1] Currently in the UK, 4076 people are waiting for a kidney transplant and 436 people are waiting for a liver transplant, making them the most common organ transplant procedures. Unfortunately, this also means that the current waiting time for these organs is extensive. [2] Those that need kidney transplants, in particular, are put on a waiting list for roughly 2-3 years. Out of all those needing a kidney transplant, approximately ⅓ of these patients will die before receiving the transplant. But through the use of 3D printing technology in medicine, would it be possible to significantly reduce waiting times and deaths? [3] 3D printing was first developed in the 1980s by Charles W. Hull. It was mainly used for ‘rapid prototyping’ in engineering and manufacturing. The 3D printer uses material such as metal, plastic, or wood instead of ink to build 3D objects based on computer-generated models. Since then, 3D printers have been made more...