Ever since the 3D printers appeared (around 2010 with many years of development and improvement behind) we have headed into this rush of new advantages coming out every day. The first applications of these printers were essentially within the architecture, construction, industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering fields… but soon enough we found some other applications in medical industries, biotech, fashion, footwear, jewelry, eyewear, geographic information systems, food, and many other fields.
What began working with a thermoplastic filament or metal wire coming out of a nozzle head has just turned into different materials, edible and biodegradable such as chocolate, pasta or a special type of PLA filament that can be ingested by humans.
After all of these applications the latest within the medical field are quite incredible. J Group Robotics pretends to “produce capsule covers which shall carry ‘chemical ink’ (or chemical catalysts), after printed”, this would mean a great change in the industry with many people being able to obtain the drugs in any part of the world. What would be the next step within the medical filed? Well, some Australian and US scientists make major medical breakthrough in printing vascular network being been able to “print” types of human tissue using a 3D printer.
A couple of Spanish companies have discovered in 3D printers a way of living, not only as their business by buying and selling the printers but also by getting involved and trying to bring them closer to everyone. Firstly we discovered a company in Barcelona “Natural Machines” which prints fresh food in a healthy and common way so that people can feel more comfortable around these printers. Another Spanish company, called “Leapto3D” has also created a startup company in order to sell 3D printers but they also have an interesting workshop (mainly for architects who want to build a miniature model of their designs) that helps people understand the way 3D printers work as well as their applications and different parts.
It seems like 3D printers are meant to be in the near future one of those must-have at home, and it looks as if every day there is a new feature which we could use in our daily life. In relation with IP matters these machines are already piling up in patent application form and many more will certainly show up.
Check out some of the videos mentioned in this entry:
3D impresion [youtube height=»HEIGHT» width=»WIDTH»]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBacMthM8xQ[/youtube]
Printing human tissue [vimeo height=»HEIGHT» width=»WIDTH»] http://vimeo.com/70042201[/vimeo]
Irean Navas
