tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/3-d-printing-37095/articles3-D printing – The Conversation2023-06-23T03:09:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2080262023-06-23T03:09:20Z2023-06-23T03:09:20ZWe are closer than ever to being able to 3D print medicines. Here’s why that’s important<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533596/original/file-20230622-19-sykymu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C411%2C1509%2C1041&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liam Krueger</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>3D-printed medicine could be the future of personalised healthcare, with research now suggesting printed tablets have reached a sufficient quality to match the standards set for conventionally manufactured tablets.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123132">Our new study</a>, published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, highlights the promise 3D-printed medicines hold for patients.</p>
<p>If we can scale 3D printing to everyday use, the near limitless potential to have medicines customised to your specific health needs may become a reality sooner than you think. </p>
<h2>One size doesn’t fit all</h2>
<p>For a long time, medicines have been produced with what you might call a “one-size-fits-all” approach, whereby tablets and capsules come in only a set number of doses. But what if those exact doses don’t work for you?</p>
<p>Taking too much or too little of your medication can be hard to avoid when it only comes in set doses. This can have serious consequences when taking important medications such as antidepressants that trigger side effects when the dose is changed too quickly.</p>
<p>The traditional solution to these scenarios has been to try and break the tablet into halves or quarters to get a dose in-between. But this isn’t possible for every tablet, and even if it is, research shows it often ends up with an <a href="https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.04.054">inaccurate dose</a>.</p>
<p>3D printing can take away the guesswork and provide flexibility for health professionals to truly personalise medicine suited to you. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-is-it-ok-to-chew-or-crush-your-medicine-39630">Health Check: is it OK to chew or crush your medicine?</a>
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<h2>Layer by layer</h2>
<p>You may have seen 3D printers producing toys, <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-products-have-been-3d-printed-for-the-coronavirus-pandemic-but-they-bring-risks-137486">medical devices</a> and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-eat-a-3d-printed-pizza-70335">food</a>.</p>
<p>The printing of medicines uses the same technology, building a tablet one layer at a time by melting the medication combined with other approved ingredients to help it dissolve in the stomach. Importantly, the tablet can be 3D printed at any required dose by giving instructions to the machine to print it bigger or smaller. </p>
<p>In our proof of concept study we were able to 3D print tablets containing very accurate doses of caffeine, in a way that would be exceedingly difficult with conventional manufacturing methods.</p>
<p>Rather than choosing a dose based on limited commercial options, we selected the dose first and then designed and printed the tablet accordingly.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pile of yellow coloured oval wafers on a purple background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533607/original/file-20230623-23-pb14vz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A pile of the finished 3D-printed tablets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liam Krueger</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>While not often thought of as a medicine, the choice of caffeine in this research is important because it is the most widely used behavioural drug worldwide. Trying to cut down on caffeine often causes headaches and nausea because of the challenges in lowering the dose correctly. This is one of many scenarios where a one-size-fits-all approach would fall short.</p>
<p>Compared to attempts to split a conventional caffeine tablet into the same doses, the 3D-printed tablets proved to have far more accurate dosage.</p>
<p>Our results demonstrate a straightforward process for producing “the right medicine for the right patient at the right time”. This is one of the guiding principles of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1752-8062.2008.00003.x">personalised medicine</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cancer-doctors-use-personalised-medicine-to-target-variations-unique-to-each-tumour-47349">How cancer doctors use personalised medicine to target variations unique to each tumour</a>
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<h2>A healthcare evolution</h2>
<p>Although 3D printing has been around for decades, its use for producing medicines – especially in a hospital or pharmacy environment – is very new.</p>
<p>Australia has rigorous quality control standards for medicines thanks to regulation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and it is too early to tell how it will regulate 3D printed medicines.</p>
<p>The United States already has one 3D-printed seizure medication, Spritam, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The printing process helps the resulting tablet <a href="https://spritam.com/making-medicine-using-3d-printing/">rapidly disintegrate in the mouth</a> for patients who have trouble swallowing, but does not offer dose customisation.</p>
<p>However, it seems we are on the brink of customised approaches in the clinic, with three <a href="https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/research/3d-printing-of-pharmaceuticals-and-the-role-of-pharmacy">new 3D-printed medications</a> receiving FDA investigational new drug approval over 2021-22, and several other <a href="https://www.fabrx.co.uk/2019/09/03/fabrx-first-clinical-study-3d-printed-dosage-forms">clinical trials</a> completed in the last few years. </p>
<p>We envision 3D printers in pharmacies and hospitals for <a href="https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51381">on-site and true personalisation</a>. However, at this stage that doesn’t necessarily mean replacing or even competing with conventional medicines. </p>
<p>The production speed of current 3D printing technologies is much slower than conventional manufacturing. The greatest benefits will likely be for patients with particularly complicated medication regimens, or those taking certain types of medicines like antidepressants. Thus, the people who need it most could have their own tailor-made medicine.</p>
<p>In fact, the possibilities extend further than just choosing the right dose. The practice of pharmaceutical 3D printing could potentially include combining multiple drugs into a single “<a href="https://theconversation.com/3d-printed-drugs-could-be-a-godsend-for-those-on-multiple-pills-a-day-and-potentially-life-saving-119764">polypill</a>”, and fully customising features like shape, size, colour, or texture.</p>
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<img alt="Video of a 3D printer laying down different colours in a single oval tablet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533608/original/file-20230623-25-z1rzbl.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A timelapse video showing the proof of concept for a ‘polypill’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liam Krueger</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>We envision an evolution of digital healthcare where 3D printing is combined with technologies like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-artificial-intelligence-has-not-revolutionised-healthcare-yet-69403">machine learning</a>, artificial intelligence and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-big-data-13780">big data</a>, taking our next big step towards truly personalised medicine.</p>
<p>This future will require a collaborative effort between researchers, health professionals, and regulatory bodies to define the place of 3D printing in healthcare, but could see us picking up our personalised medicine from a local pharmacy or hospital with the touch of a button.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amirali Popat receives funding from The University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jared Miles receives funding from The University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Krueger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One size doesn’t fit all – customising your medicines with 3D printing could be a game changer, especially for people with complex medical needs.Amirali Popat, Associate Professor and Director of Research, The University of QueenslandJared Miles, Lecturer, The University of QueenslandLiam Krueger, Research scientist, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2031702023-04-26T16:10:38Z2023-04-26T16:10:38ZWe built a human-skin printer from Lego and we want every lab to use our blueprint<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519248/original/file-20230404-28-w0roze.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lego bricks have standardised parts and can be found across the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cardiff University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sourcing human tissue samples for biological investigations isn’t always easy. While they are <a href="https://www.pcrm.org/ethical-science/animal-testing-and-alternatives/human-tissue-research">ethically obtained</a> through organ donation or from tissue that’s removed during surgical procedures, scientists are finding them <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7415886/">increasingly difficult to get hold of</a>.</p>
<p>And it’s not just because there’s a limited supply of human tissue samples. There’s also restricted availability of the specific size and type of tissue samples needed for the many projects taking place at any given time. That’s why we decided to address the issue by building our own low-cost, easily accessible printer capable of creating human tissue samples using one of the world’s most popular toys. </p>
<p>The emergence of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8069718/">3D bioprinting</a> has provided a potential solution to the difficulty in sourcing tissue samples. This technology involves loading “bio-ink”, which contains living cells, into a cartridge. That, in turn, is then loaded into the bioprinter. Once programmed, the bioprinter prints the cell-laden bio-ink to form 3D structures that aim to replicate the complex formation of biological tissue. </p>
<p>Unlike two-dimensional cell cultures grown on plates, which most of us still rely on for large parts of our research, bioprinters enable scientists to grow cells in three dimensions. And that better replicates the intricate architecture of human biology. In other words, bioprinting technology allows researchers to make more comparable models for studying healthy and diseased tissue.</p>
<p>The problem is that these machines come at an eye-wateringly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/genbio.2022.0021">high cost</a> of some tens, even hundreds, of thousands of pounds. Few research teams, including ours, can stretch their budgets to cover that kind of expenditure, no matter how groundbreaking the technology promises to be.</p>
<p>That’s what led to us asking ourselves whether we could build our own affordable 3D bioprinter. The answer was “yes” and we decided to do so using Lego.</p>
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<img alt="A heap of yellow, red, green and blue Lego in a heap." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519272/original/file-20230404-24-5csbwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/plastic-building-blocks-on-blue-background-1920034880">Bored Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Anyone who’s ever tinkered with it will know that not only is Lego extremely cheap and versatile, but it’s also manufactured to very high precision with standardised parts that are globally accessible.</p>
<p>We also knew Lego had already been used to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/culture/3d-printer-made-almost-entirely-out-of-legos/">create traditional 3D printers</a>. But what remained uncertain was whether we could take the basic notion of a Lego 3D printer - which prints solid 3D structures from plastic - and engineer one that could print soft biological material. </p>
<p>The output would need to be precise, reliable and stable for it to be of any use in our lab.</p>
<p>We got to work on our own affordable, high-spec bioprinter in a corner of our Cardiff lab using standard Lego bricks, their mechanical sub-brand, <a href="https://www.lego.com/en-gb/themes/mindstorms">Lego Mindstorms</a> and a lab pump, which is a device commonly found in research labs. A multidisciplinary team of engineers and biologists worked together to design, engineer, construct and program our bioprinter. </p>
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<img alt="A machine made out of Lego of different sizes and colours." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519247/original/file-20230404-543-jg42py.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The 3D bioprinter is built from Lego and Lego Mindstorms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cardiff University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Still in its infancy, our bioprinter, which cost £500 to build, achieves the required level of precision to produce delicate biological material. The way it does this is remarkably simple. </p>
<p>A nozzle ejects a gel-like substance, which is full of cells, onto a dish. At the heart of the device is a mini Lego Mindstorms computer. This device moves the dish backwards and forwards and side to side while moving the nozzle up and down mechanically as it extrudes the gel full of cells. These programmable movements build up layers of the cells to replicate the 3D structure of human tissue, layer by layer.</p>
<p>Our bioprinter is now being used to create layers of skin cells, working towards a full-scale skin model. It can also be modified by using different types of nozzles to print different types of cells, building a variety of complexities into the tissue samples. It’s an exciting opportunity to imitate both healthy and diseased skin, to look at existing treatments and to design new therapies to treat various skin diseases.</p>
<h2>The future</h2>
<p>Our bioprinter could not only provide us with an accurate representative model of human skin, it could also be used to add diseased cells to the healthy models we produce. This would enable us to study how skin conditions develop and how healthy and diseased cells interact. It would also enable us to see how skin diseases progress and how potential treatments can be developed.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Printing synthetic human skin using a Lego 3D bioprinter.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We have provided <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/admt.202100868">details on how we built our Lego 3D bioprinter, giving clear instructions</a> on how to reconstruct this device in any lab, anywhere in the world. At a time when research funding is so squeezed, we are offering an open source, accessible and affordable alternative to a vital piece of equipment that is beyond most researchers’ budgets.</p>
<p>Quite simply, we want our Lego bioprinter to enable researchers to conduct groundbreaking research because that will ultimately lead to a better understanding of biology and further improve human health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203170/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by the British Skin Foundation. The article was drafted with Jo Blankley (Cardiff University).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by the British Skin Foundation</span></em></p>Scientists used Lego to build a bioprinter capable of printing human tissue samples.Sion Coulman, Senior Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff UniversityChris Thomas, Lecturer and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff UniversityOliver Castell, Senior Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2022262023-03-24T12:36:40Z2023-03-24T12:36:40Z3D-printing the brain’s blood vessels with silicone could improve and personalize neurosurgery – new technique shows how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517257/original/file-20230323-28-w03xh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1864%2C1604&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">3D printers can lay down more than just layers of melted plastic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/realistic-3d-paper-cut-human-brain-royalty-free-illustration/1391832014">Dedraw Studio/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new 3D-printing technique using silicone can make accurate models of the blood vessels in your brain, enabling neurosurgeons to train with more realistic simulations before they operate, according to our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4441">recently published research</a>.</p>
<p>Many neurosurgeons practice each surgery before they get into the operating room <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fbioengineering7010007">based on models</a> of what they know about the patient’s brain. But the current models neurosurgeons use for training <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyaa217">don’t mimic real blood vessels well</a>. They provide unrealistic tactile feedback, lack small but important structural details and often exclude entire anatomical components that determine how each procedure will be performed. Realistic and personalized replicas of patient brains during pre-surgery simulations could reduce error in real surgical procedures. </p>
<p>3D printing, however, could make replicas with the soft feel and the structural accuracy surgeons need.</p>
<p>3D printing is typically thought of as a process that involves laying down layer after layer of melted plastic that solidifies as a self-supporting structure is built. Unfortunately, many soft materials do not melt and re-solidify the way the plastic filament that 3D printers typically employ do. Users only get one shot with soft materials like silicone – they have to be printed while in a liquid state and then irreversibly solidified.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers are exploring 3D-printing organs using living cells.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Shaping liquids in 3D</h2>
<p>How do you make a complex 3D shape out of a liquid without ending up with a puddle or a slumping blob?</p>
<p>Researchers developed a broad approach called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201004625">embedded 3D printing</a> for this purpose. With this technique, the “ink” is deposited inside a bath of a second supporting material designed to flow around the printing nozzle and trap the ink in the place right after the nozzle moves away. This allows users to create complex shapes out of liquids by holding them trapped in three-dimensional space until the time comes to solidify the printed structure. Embedded 3D printing has been effective for structuring <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500655">a variety of soft materials</a> like hydrogels, microparticles and even living cells. </p>
<p>However, printing with silicone has remained challenging. Liquid silicone is an oil, while most support materials are water-based. Oil and water have a high <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SM01971B">interfacial tension</a>, which is the driving force behind why oil droplets take on circular shapes in water. This force also causes 3D-printed silicone structures to deform, even in a support medium.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of oil droplets on water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517272/original/file-20230323-26-beetje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interfacial tension is what causes oil droplets to form on water and silicone to deform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/abstract-art-oil-in-water-royalty-free-image/1251006239">Baac3nes/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even worse, these interfacial forces drive small-diameter silicone features to break into droplets as they are being printed. A lot of research has gone into making silicone materials that can be printed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2018.10.002">without a support</a>, but these heavy modifications also modify the properties that users care about, like how soft and stretchy the silicone is.</p>
<h2>3D-printing silicone with AMULIT</h2>
<p>As researchers working at the interface of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PYnyFvsAAAAJ&hl=en">soft matter physics, mechanical engineering</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rVFU5coAAAAJ&hl=en">materials science</a>, we decided to tackle the problem of interfacial tension by developing a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4441">support material made from silicone oil</a>.</p>
<p>We reasoned that most silicone inks would be chemically similar to our silicone support material, thus dramatically reducing interfacial tension, but also different enough to remain separated when put together for 3D printing. We created many candidate support materials but found that the best approach was to make a dense emulsion of silicone oil and water. One can think about it like crystal clear mayonnaise, made from packed microdroplets of water in a continuum of silicone oil. We call this method <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4441">additive manufacturing at ultra-low interfacial tension, or AMULIT</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diagram of AMULIT technique printing the bronchi of a lung model within a bath of supporting material, with a close-up of the needle depositing layers of silicone to make the tissue." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517288/original/file-20230323-22-p3hiok.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This diagram shows the AMULIT technique printing the bronchi of a lung model within a bath of supporting material. At right is a close-up of the needle depositing layers of silicone to make the tissue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade4441">Senthilkumar Duraivel/Angelini Lab</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With our AMULIT support medium, we were able to print off-the-shelf silicone at high resolution, creating features as small as 8 micrometers (around 0.0003 inches) in diameter. The printed structures are as stretchy and durable as their traditionally molded counterparts. </p>
<p>These capabilities enabled us to 3D-print accurate models of a patient’s brain blood vessels based on a 3D scan as well as a functioning heart valve model based on average human anatomy.</p>
<h2>3D silicone printing in health care</h2>
<p>Silicone is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/14356007.a24_057">critical component of innumerable products</a>, from everyday consumer goods like cookware and toys to advanced technologies in the electronics, aerospace and health care industries. </p>
<p>Silicone products are typically made by pouring or injecting liquid silicone into a mold and removing the cast after solidification. The expense and difficulty of manufacturing high-precision molds limits manufacturers to products with only a few predetermined sizes, shapes and designs. Removing delicate silicone structures from molds without damage is an additional barrier, and manufacturing defects increase when molding highly intricate structures. </p>
<p>Overcoming these challenges could allow for the development of advanced silicone-based technologies in the health care industry, where personalized implants or patient-specific mimics of physiological structures could transform care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Organ models that more accurately capture finer details could reduce surgical error and lead to personalized implants.Senthilkumar Duraivel, Ph.D. Candidate in Materials Science and Engineering, University of FloridaThomas Angelini, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1755982022-02-28T12:39:41Z2022-02-28T12:39:41ZFuture cities could be 3D printed – using concrete made with recycled glass<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448125/original/file-20220223-13-sd6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5991%2C3994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/3d-printed-house-677169853">Matjazz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>3D printed concrete may lead to a shift in architecture and construction. Because it can be used to produce new shapes and forms that current technologies struggle with, it may change the centuries-old processes and procedures that are still used to construct buildings, resulting in lower costs and saved time. </p>
<p>However, concrete has a significant environmental impact. Vast quantities of natural sand are currently used to meet the world’s insatiable appetite for concrete, at great cost to the environment. In general, the construction industry struggles with sustainability. It creates around 35% of all <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118710">landfill waste globally</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102718">new research</a> suggests a way to curb this impact. We have trialled using recycled glass as a component of concrete for 3D printing. </p>
<p>Concrete is made of a mix of cement, water, and aggregates such as sand. We trialled replacing up to 100% of the aggregate in the mix with glass. Simply put, glass is produced from sand, is easy to recycle, and can be used to make concrete without any complex processing.</p>
<p>Demand from the construction industry could also help ensure glass is recycled. In 2018 in the US only a quarter of glass was recycled, with more than half <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/glass-material-specific-data">going to landfill</a>. </p>
<h2>Building better</h2>
<p>We used brown soda-lime beverage glass obtained from a local recycling company. The glass bottles were first crushed using a crushing machine and then the crushed pieces were washed, dried, milled, and sieved. The resulting particles were smaller than a millimetre square.</p>
<p>The crushed glass was then used to make concrete in the same way that sand would be. We used this concrete to 3D print wall elements and prefabricated building blocks that could be fitted together to make a whole building.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Grey concrete structure" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448123/original/file-20220223-27-78vy4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A building envelope prefabricated using the 3D printing process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mehdi Chougan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If used in this way, waste glass can find a new life as part of a construction material.</p>
<p>The presence of glass does not only solve the problem of waste but also contributes to the development of a concrete with superior properties than that containing natural sand. </p>
<p>The thermal conductivity of soda-lime glass – the most common type of glass, which you find in windows and bottles – is more than three times lower than that of quartz aggregate, which is used extensively in concrete. This means that concrete containing recycled glass has better insulation properties. They could substantially decrease the costs required for cooling or heating during summer or winter. </p>
<h2>Improving sustainability</h2>
<p>We also made other changes to the concrete mixture in order to make it more sustainable as a building material, including replacing some of the Portland cement with limestone powder. </p>
<p>Portland cement is a key component of concrete, used to bind the other ingredients together into a mix that will harden. However, the production of ordinary Portland cement leads to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1680/asic.34044.0017">other greenhouse gases</a>. The cement production industry accounts for around 8% of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/12/cement-makers-across-world-pledge-large-cut-in-emissions-by-2030-co2-net-zero-2050">all carbon dioxide</a> emissions in the environment.</p>
<p>Limestone is less hazardous and has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/23/comment.comment">less environmental impact</a> during the its production process than Portland cement. It can be used instead of ordinary Portland cement in concrete for 3D printing <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342755192_Properties_of_Composite_Modified_with_Limestone_Powder_for_3D_Concrete_Printing">without a reduction in the quality</a> of the printing mixture. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448124/original/file-20220223-15-afbgh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">3D printed layers of a wall element.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mehdi Chougan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also added lightweight fillers, made from tiny hollow thermoplastic spheres, to reduce the density of the concrete. This changed the thermal conductivity of the concrete, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102718">reducing it by up to 40%</a> when compared with other concrete used for 3D printing. This further improved the insulation properties of the concrete, and reduced the amount of raw material required. </p>
<p>Using 3D printing technology, we can simply develop a wall structure on a computer, convert it to simple code and send it to a 3D printer to be constructed. 3D printers can operate for 24 hours a day, decrease the amount of waste produced, as well as increase the safety of construction workers. </p>
<p>Our research shows that an ultra-lightweight, well insulated 3D building is possible – something that could be a vital step on our mission towards net zero.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seyed Ghaffar receives funding from Brunel University London. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:pawel.sikora@zut.edu.pl">pawel.sikora@zut.edu.pl</a> received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (MSCA-IF)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mehdi Chougan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Glass is produced from sand, is easy to recycle, and can be used to make concrete without any complex processing.Seyed Ghaffar, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering and Environmental Materials, Brunel University LondonMehdi Chougan, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow, Brunel University LondonPawel Sikora, Associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology in SzczecinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1744312022-01-13T14:39:24Z2022-01-13T14:39:24ZThe wiring in your plane could soon be made from recycled plastic – new research<p>Every aeroplane contains a complex network of electrical cabling that keeps it flying smoothly. For every four passengers in a modern aircraft, you can expect about <a href="https://www.mitrecaasd.org/atsrac/FAA_PI-Engineer_Workshop/2001/aircraft_electrical_wire.pdf">one mile</a> of cable. That means an average passenger plane has 100 to 200 miles of wiring snaking through its structure.</p>
<p>Each plane offers different amenities. Some now boast electronically dimmable <a href="https://www.aerodefensetech.com/component/content/article/adt/features/articles/27502">windows</a> that use electricity to alter their transparency, while many flyers are used to enjoying individual video screens and even external cameras displaying the outside scenery. These all require specific cabling. And as consumer expectations increase, so will the cabling mass. </p>
<p>Mass is a vital measurement in aviation, since lighter craft use less fuel. Engineers are constantly finding ways to make planes as light as possible while maintaining <a href="https://theconversation.com/convenience-comfort-cost-and-carbon-whats-the-best-way-to-travel-save-money-and-cut-emissions-165526">best standards</a> of safety and comfort, both to cut costs and support sustainability.</p>
<p>In my research with colleagues at Swansea’s energy safety <a href="http://www.esri-swansea.org/en/">research institute</a>, I’ve worked on decreasing the mass of all these wires by using carbon nanomaterials instead of heavier copper alloys to make them. Carbon wires can be made from many sources – including recycled plastics. By turning these discarded plastics into useful, high-quality wires, we’re turning waste into wealth. </p>
<p>To make these wires, we usually <a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-pollution-why-chemical-recycling-could-provide-a-solution-129917">chemically recycle</a> plastic materials like <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-plastic-cant-be-recycled-but-weve-just-found-a-way-to-use-the-carbon-in-renewable-energy-100037">black plastic</a>: a material made of mixed recycled plastics that are dyed black to provide a uniform colour. We’ve also used waste <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/1/9">styrofoam</a>.</p>
<p>Uniquely, however, we also decided to look into using 3-D printed plastic offcuts that would otherwise be headed for the bin. These types of plastic are growing in popularity, thanks to being strong, lightweight, easily moulded and very cheap. But when mixed with other plastics, they tend to cause trouble in conventional recycling processes – meaning that they often go straight to landfill.</p>
<p>We discovered that by <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/1/112">dissolving</a> these plastics before recycling them, we were able to make more, higher quality <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/1/9">new material</a>. This is promising for large-scale production of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5629/8/1/1">electrical wiring</a> – what’s needed in aviation. </p>
<h2>Copper versus carbon</h2>
<p>Once we’d made our lighter wires, we wanted to understand exactly how environmentally friendly they were. To do this, we counted all the carbon dioxide molecules taken in and emitted during the plastic recycling process, and compared this carbon count to the count for making copper wires. </p>
<p>Interestingly, although the carbon count for our recycling process was much higher compared to that for industrial copper wire production, the overall environmental impact of the copper wire was nearly ten times worse. The latter process created <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/1/9/htm">toxic freshwater</a> that led to marine damage and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-unexpected-link-between-the-ozone-hole-and-arctic-warming-130438">ozone depletion</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, when we compared the projected carbon footprint of a typical commercial aircraft (the <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-years-of-the-boeing-747-how-the-queen-of-the-skies-reigned-over-air-travel-99814">Boeing 747-400</a>) containing either our recycled plastic wires or copper wires, we calculated that making and using recycled wires resulted in a smaller carbon footprint over the aircraft’s lifespan.</p>
<p>Recycled wires would make planes lighter, reducing their fuel consumption and making them more <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/2/4/58">environmentally friendly</a> in the long run. Using these wires would decrease the emissions of each plane by 21 kilotonnes: equal to a saving of 14,574 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide for an <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/1/9/htm">average fleet</a> of 694 planes. </p>
<h2>The future of plastic</h2>
<p>The amount of plastic we use is continuously growing, which isn’t helping already <a href="https://youtu.be/-bg2qMOU8H8">overburdened</a> global recycling systems. One increasingly popular plastic is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, commonly known as ABS. It’s the main plastic used in <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2021/06/engineering-students-cant-get-to-the-lab-so-tutors-send-lab-to-the-students.php">3-D printing devices</a> and is often used to teach engineering students how to make anything from toys to <a href="https://www.mdlinx.com/article/7-amazing-body-parts-that-can-now-be-3d-printed/lfc-2668">body parts</a> to tools – on this planet or <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/3d-printing-in-space-long-duration-spaceflight-applications">beyond</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An astronaut holds a plastic ratchet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440655/original/file-20220113-25-1ezhe0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A NASA astronaut holds a ratchet created by the 3D printer on the International Space Station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/16127494961">NASAMarshall/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite these exciting applications, the downside of ABS’ prevalence is the escalating amount of waste plastic produced by the 3-D printing process. But this waste can be used to make <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5629/5/2/32">nanomaterials</a> usable in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5629/8/1/9">audio cables</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/3dXl2W4NjOk">speaker cables</a>, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/1/9/htm">Ethernet cables</a> and now <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5629/8/1/1">electrical cables</a>.</p>
<p>And the list of uses for these “waste” plastics is only getting longer. From <a href="https://flexikeg.com/en/">beer kegs</a> to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19648189.2021.1967201?journalCode=tece20">paving</a> and <a href="https://www.takatakaplastics.com/">building materials</a>, <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/17-cool-products-made-from-recycled-plastics">activewear</a> and <a href="https://conserveindia.org/">designer fashion</a>, the future’s looking bright for recycled plastics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174431/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alvin Orbaek White is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Swansea University and has received funding through the Sêr Cymru II Fellowship by the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was supported by funding from the Welsh Government Circular Economy Capital Fund FY 2020-21. Alvin has previously received funding from UKRI/EPSRC and InnovateUK and gained support from the KTN SME accelerator program. He patented technology dealing with nanomaterial manufacturing then founded TrimTabs Ltd to finance the patent application and manufacturing process.</span></em></p>Using recycled plastic to wire planes could reduce their emissions while cutting down on waste from the 3-D printing industry.Alvin Orbaek White, Associate professor, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701732021-12-20T18:41:10Z2021-12-20T18:41:10ZHow to prevent mass extinction in the ocean using AI, robots and 3D printers<p>The ocean is the most defining physical feature of Earth, covering <a href="https://rwu.pressbooks.pub/webboceanography/chapter/1-1-overview-of-the-oceans/">71% of the surface of this planet</a>. It is home to incredible biodiversity, ranging from microscopic bacteria and viruses to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale.</p>
<p>We still do not know how many species live in the ocean, but the disappearance of an increasing number of them suggests that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1132-4.epdf?sharing_token=Eh46gKRPYtrLHeL-cNU7o9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PDCjASb9BnnSR8n2lOh-Rgg70BUK3CvtRETJRj_-ilCKTj-fyqQpiGLdQT3z_nRcvP6a99Wwo95Iit72lVAuodqleCEVMmMAghlDJNd8yGBDfrm7NkVQ_jDNB5nhnr3NB9ZvjbINTP3TenuWRMrreOppVA3sJqBXjp_BP2r6GQdGRjnl3zTN_dWFYhUCwa-KY%3D&tracking_referrer=www.nationalgeographic.com">extinction is taking place</a>, perhaps at a faster rate than on land.</p>
<p>The stakes for ocean biodiversity have never been higher than they are this decade, and now more than ever, we need results. A widely promoted target is to bring <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/our-ocean-our-planet/what-is-30x30-marine-protected-areas-ocean-2030">30% of marine area under protection by 2030</a> – a major step that will contribute a great deal to marine biodiversity. But how can the world achieve it?</p>
<h2>The need for new solutions</h2>
<p>Saving the ocean will require a firm commitment from maritime countries. There will be no single solution but a mix of several approaches to be applied, and we don’t have the luxury of time in which to do it.</p>
<p>One measure that can be enforced without delay is slashing any form of government incentive that supports unsustainable fishing. Instead, allocated funds should be invested in sustainable aquaculture.</p>
<p>Nature-based solutions that are historically rooted in sustainable conservation management, such as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255947473_Integrating_Habitat_in_Ecosystem-Based_Fishery_Management">habitat-integrated fishing</a> (a technique designed to preserve the ecosystem while fishing), are fundamentally important but cannot measure up to the challenge facing the ocean.</p>
<p>It is in this context that the application of emerging technologies and eco-engineering solutions become most relevant. Older technology has driven human capacity to exploit resources, but emerging technologies have the potential to undo some of the damage to the ocean ecosystem.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Colourful fish in a coral reef" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437626/original/file-20211214-19-pmg6y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We will not meet biodiversity goals wihtout harnessing new technologies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/6325204318">David Burdick/WorldFish</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The role of technology</h2>
<p>There is currently no possibility of the world reaching the 30% target for marine protected areas (MPAs) with existing policies and systems of governance. Most countries have declared MPAs in their exclusive economic zones but due to poor enforcement the coverage, only <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03371-z">2.7% of the ocean</a> can be considered highly protected.</p>
<p>The reason for this is simple: most countries cannot afford the large number of marine park rangers and navigational equipment required to enforce the protection of these areas.</p>
<p>But there is hope. Specific new technologies have enormous capacity to help the world reach its ocean targets.</p>
<p>These technologies include sensors, drones, robots and artificial intelligence, all of which can use real-time information on ocean conditions and human activities to respond at a speed never seen before.</p>
<p>Imagine a robotic fish equipped with sensors and AI collecting data in difficult-to-access ocean depths, or under rough conditions in the high seas, following marine creatures whose lifestyles are currently unknown to humans and detecting biodiversity hotspots, as well as sources of pollution and illegal fishing.</p>
<p>Other technology-driven solutions are already in use today.</p>
<p>Drones are <a href="https://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/GGSD_2017_Issue%20Paper_New%20technologies%20in%20Fisheries_WEB.pdf">increasingly used</a> in real-time monitoring of ocean fisheries, including the operation of fishing vessels. Habitat mapping and <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/climate-and-technology-trends-living-marine-resources">thermal imaging</a> using infrared cameras are currently being deployed to survey populations of Atlantic scallops and tracking of whales in their migration.</p>
<p>3D-printed corals and seawalls made up of sustainable and environmentally friendly tiles are already available and in use, while <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/a-new-dimension-to-marine-restoration-3d-printing-coral-reefs/">3D-printed substrates</a> offer a stable foundation for newly planted seagrass beds or coral reefs.</p>
<h2>Making it happen</h2>
<p>Deploying emerging technologies at scale can make a huge difference in exploring the ocean and protecting marine life.</p>
<p>Effectively enforced MPAs will contribute significantly to the replenishment of marine biodiversity and play a major role in rebuilding depleted fishery stocks and building resilience against the effects of climate change.</p>
<p>To take advantage of the promise of technology, we will need advanced systems and platforms to be put in place, and this requires budgetary allocations and international agreements.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">UN Convention on Biological Diversity</a> contains five goals and 20 targets for preventing species loss, known as <a href="https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/">Aichi Biodiversity Targets</a>. The Conference of the Parties, which is the governing body of the convention, should now review the progress of these targets, determine the causes for failures in implementation and suggest how to address continued biodiversity loss with technology.</p>
<p>We need new governance structures and consensus on action and accountability. Countries need to be able to share information and verifiable data metrics to track progress on preserving ocean biodiversity.</p>
<p>When all these activities and actions are in place, it will be nothing less than a revolution for the ocean.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398230/original/file-20210502-19-2lk7b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em>For 50 years, the UNESCO <a href="https://en.unesco.org/mab">Man and the Biosphere Program</a> (MAB) has combined exact, natural and social sciences to find solutions implemented in the 714 exceptional sites (129 countries) of biosphere reserves.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saleem Mustafa ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The world needs to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. We won’t achieve this goal without using new technology to patrol and preserve marine protected areas.Saleem Mustafa, Professor, Distinguished Fellow, Universiti Malaysia SabahLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1681462021-09-17T13:07:50Z2021-09-17T13:07:50Z3D-printed rocket engines: the technology driving the private sector space race<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421651/original/file-20210916-25-15mh7v1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=238%2C0%2C2550%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/40628437283/">Offical SpaceX Photos/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The volatile nature of space rocket engines means that many early prototypes end up embedded in dirt banks or decorating the tops of any trees that are unfortunate enough to neighbour testing sites. Unintended explosions are in fact so common that rocket scientists have come up with a euphemism for when it happens: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/16/elon-musk-falcon-9-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly">rapid unscheduled disassembly</a>, or RUD for short. </p>
<p>Every time a rocket engine blows up, the source of the failure needs to be found so that it can be fixed. A new and improved engine is then designed, manufactured, shipped to the test site and fired, and the cycle begins again – until the only disassembly taking place is of the slow, scheduled kind. Perfecting rocket engines in this way is one of the main sources of developmental delays in what is a <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/Themes/global-space-economy">rapidly expanding</a> space industry. </p>
<p>Today, 3D printing technology, using heat-resistant metal alloys, is revolutionising trial-and-error rocket development. Whole structures that would have previously required hundreds of distinct components can now be printed in a matter of days. This means you can expect to see many more rockets blowing into tiny pieces in the coming years, but the parts they’re actually made of are set to become larger and fewer as the private sector space race intensifies.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvim4rsNHkQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Rocket engines generate the energy equivalent of detonating a <a href="https://www.marssociety.ca/2021/03/04/rocket-engine-engineering/">tonne of TNT every second</a>, directing that energy into an exhaust that reaches temperatures well over 3,000°C. Those engines that manage this without rapidly dissembling in an unscheduled fashion take at least three years to engineer from scratch, most of which is taken up by the cyclical process of redesign, rebuild, refire and repeat. </p>
<p>That’s because rocket engines are incredibly complex. The Saturn V’s F-1 engines that blasted Neil Armstrong towards the Moon in 1969 each had <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/3/">5,600 manufactured parts</a>. Many of them were sourced from different suppliers and had to be individually welded or bolted together by hand, which took time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram of the F-1 rocket" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421652/original/file-20210916-15-1eaowhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The F-1 rocket engines that launched Apollo 11 towards the Moon were made of thousands of individual parts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SaturnF1EngineDiagram.png">Nasa/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This lengthy, expensive process might have been fine in the 1960s, with the US government funnelling money into Nasa to fuel the space race, but for private companies it simply takes too long.</p>
<h2>Add rocket fuel</h2>
<p>The key to fast engine development is to reduce the number of parts, which reduces the time it takes to assemble the engine and the disruption caused by supply chain delays. The easiest way to do this is to change manufacturing processes. Space companies are now moving away from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/subtractive-process">subtractive manufacturing processes</a> – which remove material to shape a part – to <a href="https://3dprint.com/278887/3d-printing-and-the-future-of-space/">additive manufacturing processes</a> that build up a part by adding material to it bit by bit.</p>
<p>That means 3D printing. Increasingly, engineers are favouring a process called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128140628/additive-manufacturing-for-the-aerospace-industry">selective laser sintering</a> to 3D-print rocket engine parts in an additive process. It works by first laying down a layer of metal powder, before melting shapes into the powder with lasers. The metal binds where it’s melted, and remains powder where it’s not. Once the shape has cooled, another layer of powder is added, and the part is built up <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiUUZxp7bLQ">layer by layer</a>. For rocket engines, an Inconel copper super alloy powder is used, because it can withstand very high temperatures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="how metal 3D printing works" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421856/original/file-20210917-47670-1f5pjq.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How engineers 3D-print parts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiUUZxp7bLQ&ab_channel=StratasysDirectManufacturing">Stratasys Direct Manufacturing</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Selective laser sintering allows for multiple components to be printed in-house, as one unified part, in a matter of days. When an RUD occurs and the fault is found, engineers can create a fix using 3D modelling software, integrating highly complex parts into new rocket engines for test firing a few days later.</p>
<p>Using 3D printing also helps manufacturers reduce the weight of the complete rocket, as fewer nuts, bolts and welds are required to produce their complex structure. 3D printing is especially useful in manufacturing an engine’s complex <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20160009709/downloads/20160009709.pdf">regeneratively cooled nozzle</a>, which routes cool fuel around the hot engine to simultaneously cool the engine walls and preheat the cold fuel before combustion.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1141270225112969216"}"></div></p>
<p>A redesign of the Apollo F-1 engines using 3D printing reduced the number of parts <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/3/">from 5,600 to just 40</a>. No company has yet to reduce this number down to one, but it’s undeniable that 3D printing has brought about a new age of fast, responsive rocket engine development.</p>
<h2>Business viable</h2>
<p>That matters for private space enterprises. Building a rocket isn’t cheap. Investors may get flighty as the RUD scrap heap begins to mount. Companies vying to launch payloads into space take a public relations knock whenever they’re forced to push back their launch schedules on account of faulty rockets.</p>
<p>Virtually all new rocket companies and space startups are adopting 3D metal-printing technology. It accelerates their development phase, helping them survive the crucial years before they manage to get anything into space. Of note are <a href="https://www.rocketlabusa.com/">Rocket Lab</a>, which uses its 3D-printed engine to launch rockets from New Zealand, and <a href="https://www.relativityspace.com">Relativity Space</a> which is 3D printing its entire rocket. In the UK there’s, <a href="https://www.skyrora.com/">Skyrora</a> and <a href="https://orbex.space/">Orbex</a>. The latter aims to launch a rocket using a 3D-printed engine as early as 2022. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether an entire rocket, including its engine, can be 3D-printed in once piece. But that’s clearly the direction of travel for an industry in which light-weight, complex, in-house manufacturing will define which payloads enter orbit – and which end up rapidly dissembling at an inopportune moment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oliver Hitchens receives funding from the University of Surrey.</span></em></p>The rocket engines that lauched Apollo 11 towards the moon had 5,600 parts each. 3D-printed equivalents have just 40.Oliver Hitchens, PhD Candidate, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679972021-09-17T12:52:38Z2021-09-17T12:52:38ZTen ways to cut shipping’s contribution to climate change – from a researcher<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421829/original/file-20210917-47336-11mqi1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1290&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Container ships transport millions of tonnes of goods across the planet.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/hamburg-port-of-hamburg-3021820/">Julius_Silver/Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the middle of this summer’s shocking <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/">fires</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/23/climate-crisis-made-deadly-german-floods-up-to-nine-times-more-likely">floods</a> came the grimmest <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">climate science report</a> yet from the UN’s <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>, warning of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/apocalyptic-films-have-lulled-us-into-a-false-sense-of-security-about-climate-change-165837">“code red for humanity”</a> as our use of fossil fuels continues to drive up global temperatures.</p>
<p>To keep below the threshold of 1.5 degrees °C of warming – the goal of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-how-the-world-will-measure-progress-on-the-paris-climate-agreement-and-keep-countries-accountable-160325">Paris climate agreement</a> – immediate reductions in carbon emissions are needed. One of the sectors doing the most damage is international shipping, the emissions of which are almost equivalent to those of an industrial country like <a href="https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-maritime-freight-emissions">Germany</a>. The <a href="https://www.imo.org/">International Maritime Organisation</a> (IMO), the UN shipping regulator, has put issues surrounding shipping and climate change high on its <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/MeetingSummaries/Pages/default.aspx">agenda</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/posts/2020/06/can-shipping-emissions-be-kept-in-check-in-a-post-covid-future/">Shipping emissions</a> can be calculated using four principal factors: the weight of products transported, the distance they’re sent, the amount of fuel it takes to move one tonne of products one kilometre, and the amount of carbon released by making and using that fuel – known as the fuel’s carbon-intensity. </p>
<p>The overwhelming focus of political attention is mainly on that last point – which fuel is used, and how carbon intensive it is. But it will be beyond 2030 before low-carbon fuels, like <a href="https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/climate-change-science-solutions/climate-science-solutions-hydrogen-ammonia.pdf">hydrogen or ammonia</a>, grow past a single-digit percentage of all shipping fuel used. This is a problem: if we are to meet the Paris Climate Agreement goals, emissions need to see dramatic reductions in the short term. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing the factors affecting shipping emissions" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421819/original/file-20210917-47336-2i8c1p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Four factors affecting shipping emissions, alongside solutions to reduce those emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That means we need to think about the wide range of other ways to cut shipping emissions in the coming decade. Here are ten areas to look at: </p>
<p><strong>1. Reduce the amount of fuel needed for shipping by transporting less stuff…</strong></p>
<p>In a world of finite resources, we need to think critically about consuming less – for example, whether we need to import containers of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-56748561">garden gnomes</a> from China to the UK, or whether high street clothes retailers should continue to prioritise <a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-fashion-lies-will-they-really-change-their-ways-in-a-climate-crisis-121033">fast fashion models</a> where clothes are shipped halfway around the world yet only designed to last for several uses. </p>
<p><strong>2. …over shorter distances…</strong></p>
<p>It’s possible that long distance transport might become less necessary in the future, as the rise of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01441647.2017.1370036">3D printing</a> could see goods printed locally and on demand. The new generation of shipping fuels could also be produced nearer to where they’re needed, so they only have to be transported by ship over hundreds, rather than thousands of miles. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cargo ship seen from above" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421835/original/file-20210917-48650-10sioqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Long-distance shipping could become less common.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/shipping-container-terminal-4319421/">Soualexandrerocha/Pixabay</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. …at slower speeds.</strong></p>
<p>The faster ships move, the more energy they need. The bottom line is that going slower is one of the most effective and immediate ways to cut ships’ fuel use. This can happen naturally due to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2581518">high fuel prices</a>, but locking in these benefits needs action from the IMO, such as regulation on ship speed limits.</p>
<p><strong>4. Retrofit ships.</strong></p>
<p>There are multiple ways to retrofit ships so they use less fuel, like adding protruding <a href="https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-architecture/why-do-ships-have-bulbous-bow/">“bulbous bows”</a> to reduce resistance from waves and upgrading ship <a href="https://primeserv.man-es.com/marine-engines-and-systems/propeller-aftship/retrofit-modernization/propeller-upgrade">propellers and hulls</a> to improve fuel efficiency.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The bulbous bow of a ship" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421832/original/file-20210917-15-1obgozs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bulbous bows are just one way ships can be designed to produce increased efficiency.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/volvob12b/15647279696">Bernard Spragg/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>5. Make use of the wind…</strong></p>
<p>Spinning cylinders called <a href="https://vtas-fes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Flettner-Rotors-Factsheet_VTAS-2019.pdf">Flettner rotors</a> and huge <a href="https://vtas-fes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Kites-Factsheet_VTAS-2019.pdf">kite sails</a> are just two technologies that harness the power of the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/how-can-shipping-be-more-environmentally-friendly">wind</a> to help propel vessels. This can cut fuel consumption by <a href="https://www.energylivenews.com/2017/03/14/wind-could-help-shipping-tankers-cut-fuel-by-10/">10%</a>. Coupling this with computer programs that model wind speed and direction allows ships to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352146516300515">optimise</a> their routes, saving ships a further 10% of fuel. </p>
<p><strong>6. …and “shore-power”.</strong></p>
<p>Ships can use less fuel when in port by switching off their engines and connecting to local electricity grids instead. This technique, which also reduces air pollution in coastal cities, is called <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350438980_Policy_and_politics_in_energy_transitions_A_case_study_on_shore_power_in_Oslo">“shore-power”</a>. Norway, the USA and China lead in implementing shore-power thanks to government support, but it’s less common in the UK – solutions to this are set out in this Tyndall Manchester <a href="https://mailchi.mp/britishports/tyndall-report">research</a> paper.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p><strong>7. Carbon accounting</strong></p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.eesi.org/topics/alternative-fuels/description">alternative fuels</a> produce low levels of carbon dioxide when burned. But the emissions arising from their production need to be properly accounted for, or we’ll just be shifting pollution from one source to another. <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen_production.html">Hydrogen</a> can, for example, be produced in different ways that lead to very high or very low carbon emissions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustration of a wind-powered cargo ship" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421834/original/file-20210917-23-pr6jfv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Oceanbird ship concept, a wind-powered cargo carrier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wallenius_Marine%27s_Oceanbird_ship_concept.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>8. Carbon taxes</strong></p>
<p>Attempts to cut carbon in the shipping industry tend to flounder because standard marine fuels like diesel are globally <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/non-taxation-international-aviation-and-maritime-fuels-anomalies-and-possibilities">untaxed</a> and therefore cheap. It’s time for the IMO to levy charges on carbon pollution, to allow alternative fuels to compete with traditional carbon-based ones. Revenues from this can fund <a href="https://www.ics-shipping.org/press-release/ics-report-reveals-scale-of-challenge-to-decarbonise-shipping/">research and development</a> into new fuels, and support developing nations to decarbonise their shipping sectors.</p>
<p><strong>9. Green policymaking</strong></p>
<p>The UK could prioritise building <a href="https://www.lr.org/en-gb/insights/global-marine-trends-2030/zero-emission-vessels-2030/">zero-emission vessels</a> in its forthcoming National Shipbuilding Strategy, and run more innovative contests like the already oversubscribed <a href="https://www.maritimeuk.org/priorities/environment/clean-maritime-demonstration-competition/">Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition</a> to provide greater support for greener shipping tech. </p>
<p><strong>10. Stronger framework</strong></p>
<p>All of the above methods need to operate within a clear framework for reducing overall shipping emissions if the sector is to play its part in meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement. The IMO needs to commit to more stringent <a href="https://rdcu.be/b4QUS">climate targets</a> to deliver major reductions in the coming decades. In shipping, as in every sector, we need to use every way we can to cut emissions as fast as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Bullock receives funding from the EPSRC. He is as Associate Member of IMarEST.</span></em></p>The shipping sector’s emissions are equivalent to some industrial countries: here’s some innovative ways to help reduce them.Simon Bullock, PhD Candidate in Shipping and Climate Change, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668962021-09-03T03:49:23Z2021-09-03T03:49:23ZFrom bespoke seats to titanium arms, 3D printing is helping paralympians gain an edge<p>Major sporting events like the Paralympics are a breeding ground for technological innovation. Athletes, coaches, designers, engineers and sports scientists are constantly looking for the next improvement that will give them the edge. Over the past decade, <a href="https://www.hubs.com/guides/3d-printing/">3D printing</a> has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1754337120971521">become a tool</a> to drive improvements in sports like running and cycling, and is increasingly used by paralympic athletes.</p>
<p>The Paralympics features athletes with a diverse range of abilities, competing in a wide range of different <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/classification">categories</a>. Many competitors use prosthetics, wheelchairs or other specialised components to enable them to perform at their best.</p>
<p>One interesting question is whether 3D printing widens or narrows the divide between athletes with access to specialised technologies, and those without. To put it another way, does the <a href="https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8491-9.ch012">widespread availability</a> of 3D printers — which can now be found in many homes, schools, universities and <a href="https://www.makerspaces.com/what-is-a-makerspace/">makerspaces</a> — help to level the playing field?</p>
<h2>Forget mass production</h2>
<p>Mass-manufactured equipment, such as gloves, shoes and bicycles, is generally designed to suit typical able-bodied body shapes and playing styles. As such, it may not be suitable for many paralympians. But one-off, bespoke equipment is expensive and time-consuming to produce. This can limit access for some athletes, or require them to come up with their own “do-it-yourself” solutions, which may not be as advanced as professionally produced equipment.</p>
<p>3D printing can deliver bespoke equipment at a more affordable price. Several former paralympians, such as British triathlete <a href="https://all3dp.com/4/paralympic-athlete-3d-prints-adaptive-sports-equipment/">Joe Townsend</a> and US track athlete <a href="https://www.startribune.com/how-a-wheelchair-athlete-s-invention-led-to-a-growing-business/562872182/">Arielle Rausin</a>, now use 3D printing to create personalised gloves for themselves and their fellow wheelchair athletes. These gloves fit as if they were moulded over the athlete’s hands, and can be printed in different materials for different conditions. For example, Townsend uses stiff materials for maximum performance in competition, and softer gloves for training that are comfortable and less likely to cause injury.</p>
<p>3D-printed gloves are inexpensive, rapidly produced, and can be reprinted whenever they break. Because the design is digital, just like a photo or video, it can be modified based on the athlete’s feedback, or even sent to the nearest 3D printer when parts are urgently needed.</p>
<hr>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paralympians-still-dont-get-the-kind-of-media-attention-they-deserve-as-elite-athletes-166879">Paralympians still don’t get the kind of media attention they deserve as elite athletes</a>
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<h2>Harder, better, faster, stronger</h2>
<p>An elite athlete might be concerned about whether 3D-printed parts will be strong enough to withstand the required performance demands. Fortunately, materials for 3D printing have come a long way, with many 3D printing companies developing their own formulas to suit applications in various industries - from medical to aerospace.</p>
<p>Back in 2016, we saw the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-olympics-rio-germany-paralympics-idUKKCN0XV2AQ">first 3D-printed prosthetic leg used in the Paralympics</a> by German track cyclist Denise Schindler. Made of polycarbonate, it was lighter than her previous carbon-fibre prosthetic, but just as strong and better-fitting. </p>
<p>With research showing <a href="https://commons.nmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1290&context=isbs">sprint cyclists can generate more than 1,000 Newtons of force</a> during acceleration (the same force you would feel if a 100-kilogram person were to stand on top of you!), such prosthetics need to be incredibly strong and durable. Schindler’s helped her win a bronze medal at the Tokyo games.</p>
<p>More advanced materials being 3D printed for Paralympic equipment include carbon fibre, with Townsend using it to produce the <a href="https://all3dp.com/4/paralympic-athlete-3d-prints-adaptive-sports-equipment/">perfect crank arms</a> for his handbike. 3D printing allows reinforced carbon fibre to be placed exactly where it is needed to improve the stiffness of a part, while remaining lightweight. This results in a better-performing part than one made from aluminium.</p>
<p>3D-printed titanium is also being used for <a href="https://www.ge.com/news/reports/a-quantum-leap-this-paralympic-athlete-is-harnessing-the-power-of-personalized-training-equipment-built-with-the-latest-3d-printing-technology">custom prosthetic arms</a>, such as those that allow New Zealand paralympian Anna Grimaldi to securely grip 50kg weights, in a way a standard prosthetic couldn’t achieve.</p>
<h2>Different technologies working together</h2>
<p>For 3D printing to deliver maximum results, it needs to be used in conjunction with other technologies. For example, <a href="https://sportstechnologyblog.com/2018/03/02/customising-what-athletes-wear-and-use-3d-scanning-and-other-tech/">3D scanning</a> is often an important part of the design process, using a collection of photographs, or dedicated 3D scanners, to digitise part of an athlete’s body.</p>
<p>Such technology has been used to <a href="https://www.mercedes-benz.com.au/passengercars/experience/mercedes-me-magazine/performance/articles/science-technology-super-athlete/story-content.module.html">3D-scan a seat mould</a> for Australian wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, allowing engineers to manufacture a seat that gives him maximum comfort, stability and performance.</p>
<p>3D scanning was also used to create the <a href="https://createdigital.org.au/engineers-helping-aussie-athletes-to-paralympic-gold/">perfect-fitting grip</a> for Australian archer Taymon Kenton-Smith, who was born with a partial left hand. The grip was then 3D-printed in both hard and soft materials at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/20/bespoke-bows-and-specialised-seats-the-engineering-propelling-paralympians-to-new-levels">Australian Institute of Sport</a>, providing a more reliable bow grip with shock-absorbing abilities. If the grip breaks, an identical one can be easily reprinted, rather than relying on someone to hand-craft a new one that might have slight variations and take a long time to produce.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-why-paralympic-powerlifters-shift-seemingly-impossible-weights-166824">3 reasons why Paralympic powerlifters shift seemingly impossible weights</a>
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<p>All these technologies are increasingly accessible, meaning more non-elite athletes can experiment with unique parts. Amateurs and professionals alike can already buy <a href="https://www.carbon3d.com/resources/case-study/adidas/">running shoes</a> with 3D-printed soles, and <a href="https://www.bastioncycles.com/experience/">3D-printed custom bike frames</a>. For those with access to their own 3D printer, <a href="https://edditiveblog.wordpress.com/category/kitesurfing-and-sup/">surf fins</a>, <a href="https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-bike-parts-accessories/">cycling accessories</a> and more can be downloaded for free and printed for just a few dollars.</p>
<p>However, don’t expect your home 3D printer to be making titanium parts anytime soon. While the technology is levelling the playing field to a certain extent, elite athletes still have access to specialised materials and engineering expertise, giving them the technological edge.</p>
<hr>
<p>_This article was coauthored by Julian Chua, a sports technology consultant at <a href="https://www.reengineeringlabs.com/">ReEngineering Labs</a> and author of the <a href="https://sportstechnologyblog.com/">Sports Technology Blog</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article was written in collaboration with Dr Julian Chua, who is affiliated with ReEngineering Labs, a sports technology consultancy, as well as the Sports Technology Blog (<a href="https://sportstechnologyblog.com/">https://sportstechnologyblog.com/</a>).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Novak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most sporting equipment is designed with typical able-bodied athletes in mind, whereas custom equipment to meet a particular Paralympian’s needs can be expensive. 3D printing offers a third way.James Novak, Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer, The University of QueenslandAndrew Novak, Senior Research Fellow, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624742021-06-10T14:31:28Z2021-06-10T14:31:28ZNeed a DIY project? Here’s how to modify a 3D printer to make food or ceramics – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405649/original/file-20210610-15-zbg4a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=116%2C98%2C5865%2C3835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Imagine what it could do for your cakes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/three-dimensional-printing-machine3d-printer-1223675569">asharkyu/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While the pandemic has restricted us from doing many activities we like, household hobbies such as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/fluffing-your-own-nest/616469/">DIY</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210128-why-cooking-and-baking-fills-a-void">baking</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/06/tell-us-about-your-best-and-worst-craft-projects-coronavirus-pandemic">crafts</a> have become more popular. Now there’s a way to combine all of these skills to create something entirely new. What you will need, however, is a 3D printer.</p>
<p>3D printers <a href="https://theconversation.com/3d-printing-possibilities-are-beautiful-but-not-limitless-25890">will print anything</a> made of plastic, quickly and in any shape you like. But there’s a lot they cannot do. You couldn’t 3D-print pasta shaped like your children’s favourite cartoon characters or make a pizza shaped like the logo of your football team – until now, that is. Our new research paper, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340921002584">published in Data in Brief</a>, shows a simple way to re-engineer your 3D printer to create items made out of food or clay. </p>
<p>During the last few years, 3D printing has come out of science fiction, research laboratories and tech companies and landed within the reach of enthusiast hobbyists. That’s because the printers <a href="https://uk.pcmag.com/inkjet-printers/127959/the-best-cheap-3d-printers-for-2020">are becoming cheaper</a> and easier to use. Several competing brands sell 3D printer assembly kits online for less than £300 and its feed materials, plastic filaments, for less than £20 a kilogram.</p>
<p>While 3D printers may sound like very complicated, futuristic machines, it’s actually quite easy to understand how they work. The software for controlling a 3D printer takes a 3D image and slices it into many 2D (flat) images. The printer, as instructed by the software, then “draws” these flat images on the top of one another using molten plastic as the ink. This pile of thin slices becomes a solid object.</p>
<p>To <a href="http://my3dconcepts.com/explore/how-3d-printing-works/">make this happen</a>, an electric motor in the printer pushes the plastic filament into a nozzle, which is heated at more than 200°C - melting the filament and pushing it out of the nozzle. This printing head, made up of the nozzle and the motor, can move around in all three directions (length, breadth and height) because it is mounted on a separate setup of motors, pullies, belts and screws for each of these directions. A 3D printer is nothing but the printing head, the movement setup, and a circuit board that controls these two and talks to the computer.</p>
<h2>How to print food</h2>
<p>Imagine gifting your friends customised cakes or coffee mugs printed out of clay. For these, you need a 3D printer that uses pastes, gels, or <a href="http://www.tac-co.com/en/about/slurry/features/">slurry-type materials</a> as the feedstock instead of the plastic filament. The gels or pastes could be clay or something edible that you want to make a shape out of, for example, jelly, dough, soft cheese and jam.</p>
<p>Such a printer could have an empty “cartridge” to fill your feedstock and a print head that can “print” out of this cartridge. Such printers have already been available for years. However, these are generally <a href="https://all3dp.com/1/best-3d-food-printer/">more expensive</a> than £1,000. But who needs them when you can make one at home and have fun doing it?</p>
<p>Our new research shows exactly how you can modify a cheap, plastic 3D printer to print gels and pastes. The key is replacing the print head that melts plastic with a “syringe pump”, which is a setup that holds a common plastic injection syringe and squeezes the feed material when required. The plastic syringe itself works as the printer cartridge. The syringe pump is just a plastic frame that holds the syringe. The motor can be used to rotate a screw that pushes a nut down, pressing the syringe plunger with it and forcing the material out of the syringe needle.</p>
<p>But how do you make the syringe pump? That’s where it gets interesting. You can 3D-print it in plastic before you modify the printer. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340921002584">scientific paper</a>, which is free to read, contains all the 3D images you require to print all the parts and the exact steps to assemble them. </p>
<p>You can see the printer before and after the modification in the picture below:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405645/original/file-20210610-14-11rku8g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 3D printer before modification (left) and after replacing the plastic print head (in the red circle) with a syringe pump (right). In the right picture, (A) shows the syringe pump, (B) is the syringe, (C) marks the needle and (D) shows the print platform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The syringe can be filled with almost anything semi-solid and 3D-print it the same way you would print using a plastic printer. As an example, we 3D-printed two different types of food-grade gums, shown in the image below:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405646/original/file-20210610-27-1n3y8sx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">3D printed xanthan gum with a food dye (left) and transparent gellan gum (right). The grey plastic shape has been 3D printed using the same image for comparison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once you modify your printer, you can also switch back to the old print head easily if you want to print out of plastic again. Have fun!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N024818/1). The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have or could be perceived to have influenced the work reported in this article.</span></em></p>How do you turn your 3D plastic printer into a food printer? You just print the required parts.Saumil Vadodaria, Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324912021-04-06T21:15:44Z2021-04-06T21:15:44Z3D-printed organs could save lives by addressing the transplant shortage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321742/original/file-20200319-22627-p6g975.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4810%2C3460&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The need for donated organs can be addressed using a novel 3D-printing technique.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Due to the global organ shortage and limited organ donors, thousands of patients are left wanting organs and tissues in cases of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2017.11.037">severe injuries</a>, illness or genetic conditions. Many of these patients <a href="http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200008103430606">die before transplants are available</a>. </p>
<p>Tissue engineering is an emerging field that works on producing artificial tissue and organ substitutes as permanent solutions to replace or repair damage.</p>
<p>As biomedical engineering researchers, we are developing 3D temporary organ structures — called scaffolds — that may help regenerate damaged tissues and potentially lead to creating artificial organs. These tissues can also be used in various tissue engineering applications, including nerve repair in structures constructed from biomaterials.</p>
<h2>Printing tissue</h2>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://doi.org/10.3171/2017.11.jns171500">22.6 million patients</a> require <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2018.07.002">neurosurgical interventions</a> annually around the world to treat damage to the peripheral nervous system. This damage is primarily caused by traumatic events such as motor vehicle accidents, violence, workplace injuries or difficult births. It is anticipated that the cost of global nerve repair and regeneration will reach more than <a href="https://www.medgadget.com/2018/10/global-nerve-repair-and-regeneration-market-estimated-to-reach-413-million-by-2025.html">$400 million by 2025</a>.</p>
<p>Current surgical techniques allow surgeons to realign nerve ends and encourage nerve growth. However, the incidence of recovery in the injured nervous system is not guaranteed, and the return of function is almost never complete. </p>
<p>Animal studies on rats have shown that if an injury destroys <a href="https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.2005.103.6.1067">more than two centimetres of nerves</a>, the gap cannot be bridged properly and may result in the loss of muscle function or feeling. In this condition, it is important to use a scaffold to bridge two sides of the damaged nerve, specifically in case of large nerve injuries.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration showing how a scaffold can bridge an injured nerve" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393603/original/file-20210406-15-rgc2a5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Large nerve injuries (larger than 2 cm) need a scaffold to act as a bridge to connect two sides of the injured nerve.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Saman Naghieh)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bprint.2019.e00045">3D bioprinting prints 3D structures layer by layer</a>, similar to 3D printers. Using this technique, our research team created a porous structure made of the patient’s neural cells and a biomaterial to bridge an injured nerve. We used alginate — derived from algae — because the human body does not reject it.</p>
<p>While this technique has not yet been tested in people, once refined, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.201700635">has the potential</a> to help patients waiting for tissues and organs. </p>
<h2>Material challenges</h2>
<p>Alginate is a challenging material to work with because it collapses easily during 3D printing. Our research focuses on the development of new techniques to improve its printability.</p>
<p>For nerve repair, alginate has favourable properties for living cells growth and functions, but its poor 3D printability considerably limits its fabrication. It means that alginate flows easily during the printing process, and results in a collapsed structure. We developed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.02.014">fabrication method</a> where cells are contained within a porous alginate structure that is created with a 3D printer. </p>
<p>Previous research used moulding techniques to create a bulk alginate without a porous structure to improve nerve regeneration; the cells do not like such a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.tea.2011.0097">solid environment</a>. However, 3D-printing a porous alginate structure is challenging and often impossible.</p>
<p>Our research addresses this issue by printing a porous structure made of alginate layer-by-layer rather than a moulded bulk algiante; such structure has interconnected pores and provides a cell-friendly environment. Cells can easily communicate with each other and start the regeneration while the 3D-printed alginate provides a temporary support for them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="an artificial ear made by a 3D printer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317655/original/file-20200227-24672-1ryokob.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artificial ear fabricated by a 3D printer: from medical imaging to the creation of a customized scaffold made of biomaterial and cells.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://research.usask.ca/our-impact/highlights/images-of-research/gallery/2018/lets-create-an-artificial-organ-with-cells.php">(Saman Naghieh)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers are going towards the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2018.07.002">implementation of 3D-printed structures</a> for patients who suffer from nerve injuries as well as other injuries.</p>
<p>After the fabricated alginate structure is implanted in a patient, the big question is if it have enough mechanical stability to tolerate the forces applied by tissues in the body. We developed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.01.034">novel numerical model</a> to predict the mechanical behaviour of alginate structures. </p>
<p>Our studies will help to understand cell response, which is the main factor to take into account when evaluating the success of the alginate structures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saman Naghieh works for the University of Saskatchewan. </span></em></p>Printing organs could reduce the need for human donor organs. And 3D printed organs using a patient’s own cells would increase successful organ transplants by reducing the risk of rejection.Saman Naghieh, Design Engineer & Research Assistant, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1549842021-02-10T17:57:00Z2021-02-10T17:57:00ZA new intelligence paradigm: how the emerging use of technology can achieve sustainable development (if done responsibly)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383292/original/file-20210209-15-221zgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1200%2C788&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activists highlight some of the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals in Lima, Peru (February 20, 2017).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marco Carrasco/Wikipedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every new year offers an opportunity for reflection. It is a time to set new goals and revisit old ones. The start of 2021, then, represents a chance to look at successes and failures in meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Since the United Nations General Assembly set these goals six years ago, the SDGs have served as a guide for what the world needs to achieve a <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">“better and more sustainable future for all”</a>.</p>
<p>There has been progress on all 17 goals, which target poverty, health, and inequality around the globe. Nonetheless, the work remains <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/un-forum-offers-sobering-vision-of-sdgs-progress-and-new-virtual-reality-97713">slow and uneven</a>, hampered by low political will, resource constraints and the Covid-19 pandemic. With the agenda’s 2030 deadline looming, the moment is right to ask if new tools and techniques can be used to accelerate progress. New technologies may provide innovative ways to organize human action.</p>
<p>This month, the GovLab and the French Development Agency (AFD) released a report looking at precisely these possibilities. <a href="https://www.afd.fr/en/technology-development-new-intelligence-paradigm-addo-baumann-mcmurren-verhulst-young-zahuranec">“Emerging Uses of Technology for Development: A New Intelligence Paradigm”</a> examines how development practitioners are experimenting with emerging forms of technology to advance development goals. It considers when practitioners might turn to these tools and provides some recommendations to guide their application.</p>
<p>Broadly, the report concludes that experiments with new technologies in development have produced value and offer opportunities for progress. These technologies – which include data intelligence, artificial intelligence, collective intelligence, and embodied intelligence tools – are associated with different prospective benefits and risks. It is essential they be informed by design principles and practical considerations.</p>
<h2>Four intelligences</h2>
<p>The report derives its conclusions from an analysis of dozens of projects around Africa, including Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda. Linking practice and theory, this approach allows us to construct a conceptual framework that helps development practitioners allocate resources and make key decisions based on their specific circumstances. We call this framework the “four intelligences” paradigm; it offers a way to make sense of how new and emerging technologies intersect with the development field. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383282/original/file-20210209-13-copus8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The four intelligences include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Data intelligence</strong>, which covers all those technologies and methodologies that allow for the analysis or visualization of data to support decision-making. Data intelligence encompasses Internet of Things sensors, open data platforms, and <a href="https://datacollaboratives.org/">data collaboratives</a> –structures that allow actors from across sectors to exchange data to create public value. One example we consider is from Senegal, where an international development company formed a data collaborative with the telecom company Orange to estimate the prevalence of illiteracy. The resulting paper <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/130591">identified</a> hot spots of illiteracy and provided a methodology for future work.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Artificial intelligence</strong> encompasses algorithms intended to mimic human learning and cognition. AI includes both machine learning (algorithms that learn from and improve their behavior through data) and expert models (systems that attempt to mimic the decision-making of a human expert by following predefined rules). While applications of AI remain limited due to resource constraints, they can be useful where data is readily available. For example, in Tanzania, researchers <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/6610">applied</a> machine-learning methods on accessible satellite data to assess road conditions; the assessments had a 73% accuracy rate, allowing policymakers to potentially identify and prioritize areas in need of road repairs.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Collective intelligence</strong> uses networked tools to solicit input from groups. Collective intelligence can involve citizen science tools that allow individuals to collaborate and develop knowledge as well as smarter crowdsourcing platforms that allow organizations to engage with experts. It also includes <a href="http://crowd.law/">crowdlaw</a>, networked technologies that enable public deliberation and policy co-creation. In Uganda, for instance, citizen assembly tools <a href="https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/amplifying-resident-voices-for-better-infrastructure-in-uganda/">have helped</a> citizens pick which infrastructure projects they want funded. The result – in Uganda and elsewhere – is not just a more transparent process but a more legitimate one as well.</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, <strong>embodied intelligence</strong> deploys data and AI in the physical world to automate energy- and time-intensive processes. This form of intelligence often includes expensive tools like unmanned aerial vehicles and 3-D printing, and there are only a handful of examples in the field. However, in Nairobi, some local companies <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200519-we-can-get-it-done-here-african-tech-tackles-coronavirus-locally">have used</a> 3-D printing to rapidly create plastic face shields amid the Covid-19 pandemic. One company produces up to 500 face shields per day to support public health authorities.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Principles to inform use</h2>
<p>The framework demonstrates the value emerging technologies can bring to development, while also outlining some cautionary thoughts and steps that may be needed to optimize that value. Like any tool, technologies such as AI and crowdsourcing can be used well or poorly, in ways consistent with development goals and ways that are not. It is that critical practitioners approach these technologies as only some options available among many and ask themselves whether and when high-tech solutions are truly preferable to existing methods.</p>
<p>Answering such questions are not easy, but development practitioners can be guided by a few principles. We discuss six such principles in the report, among which three stand out.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=135&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=135&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383281/original/file-20210209-21-anl5q1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=170&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, to ensure that using technology is truly justified, practitioners <strong>must ensure the technology fits the intended purpose</strong>. To do so, practitioners should ensure the specific application or use of technology addresses a clear, well-defined need in a way that resonates with targeted beneficiaries and the local context.</p>
<p>Second, practitioners must <strong>balance benefits against risks</strong>, remaining aware not only of how a project can succeed but also of the many ways it can go wrong. All technology projects carry a risk of failure or unintended consequences. Sometimes it may be justified to take these risks, but development practitioners must be clear-eyed and transparent about the risks, both for themselves and for the intended beneficiaries of their actions. Where possible, assessments of risk versus reward should include inputs from target groups.</p>
<p>Finally, practitioners need to ensure their applications of technology are <strong>feasible within the necessary time frame</strong>. Even in developed economies, emerging technologies can take years to launch at a large scale. Developing countries often don’t have the luxury of time, especially during moments of humanitarian crisis. In these circumstances, practitioners need tools and responses that are deployable immediately.</p>
<p>While emerging technologies are not appropriate in all situations, they offer new opportunities to advance the SDGs. As we start a new year, we encourage development practitioners to consider these technologies alongside existing methods and adopt principles to guide their use.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors would like to thank and acknowledge Andrew Zahuranec, Andrew Young, Dominik Baumann and Juliet McMurren, co-authors of the report.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefaan G. Verhulst a reçu des financements de l'Agence Française de Développement (AFD) pour le report</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Addo ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>A new report from the GovLab and the French Development Agency (AFD) examines how development practitioners are experimenting with emerging forms of technology to advance development goals.Peter Addo, Responsable du DataLab, Agence française de développement (AFD)Stefaan G. Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer of the Governance Laboratory, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1537662021-01-26T13:25:42Z2021-01-26T13:25:42ZThe body’s fight against COVID-19 explained using 3D-printed models<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380068/original/file-20210121-23-1hvwo5o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C1164%2C888&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neutralizing antibodies attach to the tips of the spike proteins of the SARS CoV-2 virus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pdb101.rcsb.org/sci-art/goodsell-gallery/sars-cov-2-and-neutralizing-antibodies">David Goodsell/ProteinDatabase</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: In <a href="https://youtu.be/zq7U1_eHfM0">this</a> interview, Nathan Ahlgren, assistant professor of biology at Clark University, uses 3D-printed models to explain what proteins do in viruses, how they interact with human cells, how the vaccine delivers mRNA into the cell, and how antibodies protect us. This follows an <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-protein-a-biologist-explains-152870">earlier</a> article in which he explained what proteins are and the wide range of functions they have in the body.</em></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k_GVAv50US8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Nathan Ahlgren explains what role proteins play in a virus and how the spike protein works.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do proteins do in a virus? What else is in a virus?</h2>
<p>All of life has proteins. So human cells have proteins, and the same is true for viruses, even though they’re very different from the cells in our body. A virus is made up of two main things – a protein shell and genetic material. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ahlgren holds up a model of a human papillomavirus. The model is shaped like a soccer ball. The ball has removable segments, which represent groups of proteins. Inside the hollow ball is a red string, which represents the RNA." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 3D-printed model of the human papillomavirus showing the protein shell and genetic material inside.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380040/original/file-20210121-19-awtrz1.jpg">image above </a>shows a 3D-printed model I made of proteins from the human papillomavirus. Each one of the colored pieces is made up of five copies of a single protein, and together they make an icosahedral shell. Inside, I’ve represented the genetic material here as a red strand. And that’s essentially what a virus’s structure is made up of. In this case, the proteins’ function is to make a protective shell around the virus. Some viruses, including SARS-CoV2, also have a plasma membrane or lipid membrane around them.</p>
<h2>What is the function of the spike protein?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The scholar uses a 3D printed model of a spike protein and to explain how it targets the ACE-2 receptor. An artist has added a digital illustration of the ACE-2 receptor on his hand to illustrate the process clearly." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380277/original/file-20210123-17-l7mcr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The spike protein’s shape and composition allow it to attach itself to an ACE-2 receptor (also a protein) on a human cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The spike protein has two functions - recognizing and attaching to the cell, and then allowing the virus’s genetic material to get into the cell by fusing with the cell membrane. The tip of the spike protein is going to recognize another protein that’s on a human cell’s surface. So if my arm <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380043/original/file-20210121-13-1ibbzuh.jpg">in the image</a> above is the cell surface, it’s going to connect to a protein there. The protein that it recognizes in human cells is called ACE-2. Once it recognizes an <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-ace2-receptor-how-is-it-connected-to-coronavirus-and-why-might-it-be-key-to-treating-covid-19-the-experts-explain-136928">ACE-2 protein</a>, there’s a complicated process in which the spike protein actually unfolds a long, thin structure to stick into the plasma membrane of the cell and fuse the plasma membranes of the virus and the cell.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration shows a rupture in the cell membrane made by the spike protein and a long twisted strand of RNA entering the cell cytoplasm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=817&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380056/original/file-20210121-19-1cada8o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration shows the fusion of the SARS CoV-2 virus to the cell, releasing the viral RNA genome into the cell cytoplasm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pdb101.rcsb.org/sci-art/goodsell-gallery/sars-cov-2-fusion">David Godsell/The Protein Database</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It all has to do with the shapes, chemical composition and the charge of the atoms on the spike protein and the ACE-2 protein. Each of the little bumps on the model represents an individual atom. The surface of the spike protein is going to recognize the ACE-2 protein, like a puzzle piece that fits just right, or a lock and key. </p>
<h2>How do mRNA vaccines interfere in this process?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The mRNA for the spike protein, shown as the red strand, contains instructions for the formation of the spike protein. The colored beads of the bracelet represent the individual amino acids that make up the spike protein, which fold up into a spike" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mRNA for the spike protein, shown as the red strand, contains instructions for the formation of the spike protein. The colored beads of the bracelet represent the individual amino acids that make up the spike protein, which fold up into the shape of the spike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>mRNA is genetic material that has instructions or information to make proteins. The mRNA for the spike protein, shown as the red strand <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380057/original/file-20210121-17-lkebfd.jpg">in the photo</a> above, contains instructions for making the spike protein. The colored beads of the bracelet and the order in which they’re placed represent the individual amino acids that make up the spike protein, which fold up into the shape of the spike.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mrna-vaccines-from-pfizer-and-moderna-work-why-theyre-a-breakthrough-and-why-they-need-to-be-kept-so-cold-150238">vaccines take the mRNA sequence for the spike protein</a>, put it in a special package and deliver that into your human cells. Now your cells have the instructions to make the spike protein, so they’re going to make some. That protein is going to end up on the surface of your cell. That’s when the immune system takes action. Your body detects this protein, recognizes that it is foreign to the body and tries to seek out and destroy that protein. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The vaccine delivers mRNA for the spike protein wrapped in a lipid package, along with polyethylene glycol chain strands. The PEG strands protect the package and increase its durability so it can reach the cell safely." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380066/original/file-20210121-19-2y5c3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The vaccine delivers mRNA for the spike protein wrapped in a lipid package, along with polyethylene glycol chain strands. The PEG strands protect the package and increase its durability so it can reach the cell safely.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation, David Goodsell/The Protein Database</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They way the vaccines get mRNA into the cell is in some ways similar to the way the viruses do it. It’s a simple package with genetic material inside.</p>
<h2>What do antibodies do?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The scholar shows how antobodies, which are Y-shaped, block the spike protein." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380061/original/file-20210121-17-af54ur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antibodies (white) block the spike protein of the SARS CoV-2 virus so it cannot enter the cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation, David Goodsell/The Protein Database</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Antibodies are another kind of protein. They take a Y-like shape, and their job is to recognize such intruders as bacteria and viruses in your body. </p>
<p>How do they do that? The tips of the Y are slightly different from antibody to antibody. Your body makes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-0879-y">billions</a> of different antibodies, which mostly differ at the tips. The tip’s shape, the molecular composition and charge has to be exactly right to fit on the end of the spike protein and block it. Once the tip of the spike protein is blocked, then it cannot fit into the ACE-2 receptor anymore. So this is what is called a “neutralizing antibody.” </p>
<p>The other thing antibodies can do is, once they’re attached to the spike protein, they can act like a flag. And then other immune cells can recognize that flag and say “OK, I gotta go eat this thing. This is a thing that’s bad for the body.” </p>
<p>Once our body has the instructions to make the spike protein, it is able to do a really good job of building up antibodies to block the spike proteins.</p>
<h2>How do all these proteins find their targets?</h2>
<p>They are all kind of floating around and bumping into each other, which is maybe a little concerning, that the fate of our health depends on these molecules floating around and finding each other. But you’ve got a lot of antibodies, and if you’re infected with a lot of viruses, they’ll float around and meet just the right surface and get attached to their target. </p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Ahlgren receives funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).</span></em></p>A biologist explains what proteins do in viruses, how they interact with human cells, how the vaccine delivers mRNA into the cell and how antibodies protect us.Nathan Ahlgren, Assistant Professor of Biology, Clark UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1470812021-01-11T13:15:39Z2021-01-11T13:15:39ZHow to turn plastic waste in your recycle bin into profit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376186/original/file-20201221-17-utl3uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1440%2C954&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Saved from the trash heap and ready for transformation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Nathan Shaiyen/Michigan Tech</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People will recycle if they can make money doing so. In places where cash is offered for cans and bottles, metal and glass recycling has been a great success. Sadly, the incentives have been weaker for recycling plastic. As of 2015, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782">only 9% of plastic waste is recycled</a>. The rest pollutes landfills or the environment. </p>
<p>But now, several technologies have matured that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121602">allow people to recycle waste plastic directly</a> by 3D-printing it into valuable products, at a fraction of their normal cost. People are using their own recycled plastic to make decorations and gifts, home and garden products, accessories and shoes, toys and games, sporting goods and gadgets from millions of free designs. This approach is called distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, or DRAM for short. </p>
<p>As a professor of materials engineering at the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&authuser=1&user=QZ8lPxwAAAAJ">forefront of this technology</a>, I can explain – and offer some ideas for what you can do to take advantage of this trend.</p>
<h2>How DRAM works</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104810">DRAM method</a> starts with plastic waste – everything from used packaging to broken products. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A chart showing the various routes plastic waste can take to become custom plastic recycled products." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360926/original/file-20200930-18-1wpcbrf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=665&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From trash to treasure – the DRAM flowchart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua M. Pearce</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first step is to sort and wash the plastic with soap and water or even run it through the dishwasher. Next, the plastic needs to be ground into particles. For small amounts, a cross-cut paper/CD shredder works fine. For larger amounts, open-source <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies7040074">plans for an industrial waste plastic granulator</a> are available online.</p>
<p>Next you have a few choices. You can <a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Recyclebot">convert the particles into 3D printer filament using a recyclebot</a>, a device that turns ground plastic into the spaghetti-like filaments used by most low-cost 3D printers. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b04mUaI-oTU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A recyclebot made largely from 3D-printed parts.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Filament made with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2018.e00026">3D-printable recyclebot</a> is incredibly cheap, costing less than a nickel per pound as compared to commercial filament, which costs about US$10 per pound or more. With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-coronavirus-interrupts-global-supply-chains-people-have-an-alternative-make-it-at-home-133218">pandemic interrupting global supply chains</a>, making products at home from waste is even more appealing. </p>
<p>The second approach is newer: You can skip the step of making filament and use fused particle fabrication to directly 3D-print granulated waste plastic into products. This approach is most amenable to large products on larger printers, like the <a href="https://re3d.org/gigabotx/">commercial open source GigabotX</a> printer, but can <a href="http://doi.org/10.1089/3dp.2019.0195">also be used on desktop printers</a>. </p>
<p>Granulated plastic waste can also be directly printed with a syringe printer, although this is less popular because print volume is limited by the need to reloading the syringe.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Category:MOST">My research group</a>, along with dozens of labs and companies throughout the world, has developed a wide array of open source products that enable DRAM, including shredders, recyclebots and both fused filament and fused particle 3D printers. </p>
<p>These devices have been shown to work not only with the two most popular 3D printing plastics, ABS and PLA, but also a long list of plastics you likely use every day, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13194273">PET water bottles</a>. It is now possible to convert any plastic waste with a recycling symbol on it into valuable products.</p>
<p>Furthermore, an “ecoprinting” initiative in Australia has demonstrated <a href="https://doi.org/0.1109/SusTech.2018.8671370">DRAM can work in isolated communities with no recycling and no power</a> by using solar-powered systems. This makes DRAM applicable anywhere humans live, waste plastic is abundant and the Sun shines – which is just about everywhere.</p>
<h2>Toward a circular economy</h2>
<p>Research has shown this approach to recycling and manufacturing is not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.009">better for the environment</a>, but it is also <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">highly profitable for individual users</a> making their own products, as well as for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.03.006">small- and medium-sized businesses</a>. Making your own products from open source designs simply <a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Create,_Share,_and_Save_Money_Using_Open-Source_Projects">saves you money</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A series of photos showing how plastic waste first becomes filament and then can be used on a desktop 3D printer to make a camera bubble tripod." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361060/original/file-20201001-18-1xkmwvk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From waste to filament to a camera tripod.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua M. Pearce</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>DRAM allows custom products to be made for <a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Create,_Share,_and_Save_Money_Using_Open-Source_Projects">less than the sales tax on conventional consumer products</a>. Millions of free 3D-printable designs already exist – everything from <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/designs4040050">learning aids for kids</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">household products</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3040089">adaptive aids for arthritis sufferers</a>. Prosumers are already 3D-printing these products, saving themselves collectively millions of dollars. </p>
<p>One study found <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5030045">MyMiniFactory users saved over $4 million in one month alone</a> in 2017 just by making toys themselves, instead of purchasing them. Consumers can invest in a desktop 3D printer for around US$250 and earn a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">return on investment of over 100%</a> by making their own products. The return on investment goes higher if they use recycled plastic. For example, using a recyclebot on waste computer plastic makes it possible to print <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.023">300 camera lens hoods for the same price as a single one on Amazon</a>. </p>
<p>Individuals can also profit by 3D-printing for others. Thousands are offering their services in markets like <a href="https://www.makexyz.com/">Makexyz</a>, <a href="https://www.3dhubs.com/">3D Hubs</a>, <a href="https://www.ponoko.com/">Ponoko</a> or <a href="https://printathing.com/">Print a Thing</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A skateboard is held up before a large 3D printer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376140/original/file-20201221-15-drtiul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Gigabot X 3D printer makes larger items.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samantha Snabes/re:3D</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Small companies or fab labs can purchase industrial printers like the GigabotX and make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.03.006">high returns printing large sporting goods equipment</a> like snowshoes, skateboard decks and kayak paddles from local waste.</p>
<h2>Scaling up</h2>
<p>Large companies that make plastic products already recycle their own waste. Now, with DRAM, households can too. If many people start recycling their own plastic, it will help prevent the negative impact that plastic is having on the environment. In this way DRAM may provide a path to a circular economy, but it will not be able to solve the plastic problem until it scales up with more users. Luckily we are already on our way.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1311613861171257346"}"></div></p>
<p>3D printer filament is now listed in Amazon Basics along with other “everyday items,” which indicates plastic-based 3D printers are becoming mainstream. Most families still do not have an in-home 3D printer, let alone a reyclebot or GigabotX. </p>
<p>For DRAM to become a viable path to the circular economy, larger tools could be housed at neighborhood-level enterprises such as small local businesses, makerspaces, fabrication labs or even schools. France is already studying the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104531">creation of small businesses</a> that would pick up plastic waste at schools to make 3D filament. </p>
<p>I remember saving box tops to help fund my grade school. Future students may bring leftover plastic from home (after making their own products) to help fund their schools using DRAM.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Joshua M. Pearce has received funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL) through America Makes: The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which is managed and operated by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). He also receives funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 3D printing and recycling related projects. In addition, his past and present research is supported by many non-profits and for-profit companies in the open source additive manufacturing industry including re:3D, Miller, Aleph Objects, Lulzbot, CNC Router Parts, Virtual Foundry, Ultimaker and Youmagine, Cheap 3D Filaments, MyMiniFactory, Zeni Kinetic, Matter Hackers, and Ultimachine. </span></em></p>Consumers can turn plastic waste into valuable products at minimal cost using the open source technologies associated with DRAM – distributed recycling and additive manufacturing.Joshua M. Pearce, Wite Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1148712020-06-18T08:02:59Z2020-06-18T08:02:59ZThis 3D printed ‘bone brick’ could transform how we treat bomb injuries – inside story<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319079/original/file-20200306-118923-1qkzhfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For thousands of Syrian refugees who have suffered horrific blast injuries after being hit by barrel bombs and other devices of death in their war-torn homeland, the only option is amputation. When you see the damage a blast injury can do it’s a shock to the system and is so very sad and upsetting. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/circle-hell-barrel-bombs-aleppo-syria">Barrel bombs</a> have been dropped throughout the long conflict that has torn Syria apart and caused untold misery and pain to so many innocent civilians. At the start of 2018, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/circle-hell-barrel-bombs-aleppo-syria">Amnesty International reported</a> that barrel bombs had killed more than 11,000 civilians in Syria since 2012, injuring many more.</p>
<p>The barrel bomb is a type of improvised explosive device which – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/31/world/middleeast/syria-united-nations-investigation.html">according to the UN</a> – is used extensively by the Syrian Air Force. They are made from large oil barrels and are typically filled with TNT, oil and even chunks of steel. Due to the large amount of explosives that can be packed into a barrel, the resulting explosion can be devastating.</p>
<p>Even if a person survives such a blast, their limbs are at risk of suffering a large, often jagged break which, even in the best conditions, would be a major challenge to repair. In a fully equipped, state-of-the-art hospital such patients would be able to access expert orthopaedic surgery and a lot of expensive aftercare.</p>
<p>But in a refugee camp, far away from any sophisticated surgical intervention, these types of complex procedures with timely recovery and care implications are just not possible. So at the moment, amputation is unfortunately the most likely outcome in many of these cases.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>Many of these bone shattering injuries are untreatable because of the constant risk of infection from procedures carried out in the field and the collapse of the healthcare system. A simpler and cheaper way to help these people needed to be invented and my colleagues and I believe we have done just that. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311604/original/file-20200123-162232-1cf2sg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Andrew Weightman and Paulo Bartolo in the lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JillJennings/The University of Manchester</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our treatment uses a temporary, 3D printed “bone brick” to fill the gap. They are made up of polymer and ceramic materials and can be clicked together just like a Lego brick to fit perfectly into whatever gap has been created by the blast injury. The bricks are degradable and allow new tissue to grow around them. This structure will support the load like a normal bone, induce the formation of new bone and, during this process, the bricks will dissolve. The idea is that the surgeon can open a bag of bricks and piece them together to fit that particular defect and promote the bone growth.</p>
<p>The solution has been a long time coming and it was very much the plight of Syrian refugees that inspired it. It struck a very personal chord. I recognise that misery and pain and see my younger self on the faces of the children. I was born and grew up in Mozambique in South-East Africa in 1968. It was the middle of the war of independence and the country was in turmoil.</p>
<p>My family inevitably became caught up in the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13890720">decade-long conflict</a> that involved the Portuguese community that was living and working in Mozambique and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frelimo">Frelimo</a> (The Mozambique Liberation Front) resistance movement that were seeking independence and self-rule. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310503/original/file-20200116-181598-1skkubv.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paulo Bartolo with his mother and younger brother Jose Manuel in 1973-4 at their home in Manhica, Mozambique.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paulo Bartolo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was 1973 and these were dangerous times. I was about five years old and it was a very frightening and disruptive period of my life. We moved up and down the country as my father’s job in civil administration changed and required us to move to the Niassa government base in Vila Cabral (now Lichinga). </p>
<p>One episode sticks out vividly. My one-year-old brother, Jose Manuel, and I were taken from our home in Maragra and moved to a refugee camp in an area of South Africa called Nelspruit, as we tried to escape the escalating violence. We were safe but I was always anxious and scared about the security of our family. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310511/original/file-20200116-181598-1ektu8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The two brothers with their father outside the administrative office where he worked in Vila Cabral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although we were only in the camp for around a month before we were transferred to start a new life in Portugal when I was six, that experience stayed with me for life. It gave me a strong sense of empathy for others who are being displaced by war. And it would eventually strengthen my commitment to use my bio-medical expertise to try and do something to help other refugees.</p>
<h2>Blast injuries and amputations</h2>
<p>The first time I was made fully aware of the impact of blast injuries in the Syrian conflict was when <a href="https://mft.nhs.uk/mri/consultants/mr-amer-shoaib/#targetText=Amer%20Shoaib%20is%20a%20Consultant,pain%20and%20Achilles%20tendon%20injuries.">Amer Shoaib</a> – a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Manchester Royal infirmary – came to my university to discuss his experience and the problems he faced in treating these injuries in Syrian refugees. </p>
<p>Shoaib is a limb-injury expert with experience of working on the frontline of various conflicts and crisis zones as a humanitarian worker. He told us that in Syria the after effects of blast injuries were sometimes untreatable because of the constant risk of infection. The collapse of the healthcare system has also led to many treatments being done by people who are not, in fact, trained medics.</p>
<p>Shoaib was working in refugee camps in Turkey and I, along with my Manchester research colleagues Andy Weightman and Glenn Cooper, decided we needed to help and apply our expertise. We all wanted to make a difference and we continued our discussion late into the evening. This conversation developed into the idea of the “bone bricks”.</p>
<h2>A game-changer</h2>
<p>My own academic interests include biofabrication for tissue engineering. This involves fabricating bone, nerve, cartilage and skin through the use of 3D printing. 3D printing technology can now reproduce biocompatible and biodegradable materials that can be used in the human body. </p>
<p>Current grafting techniques have several limitations, including the risk of infection and disease transmission. They are also quite costly and present a high risk of further injury and serious bleeding. This work is centred on creating orthopaedic devices – or scaffolds – that can enable the regeneration of bone tissues to repair fractures.</p>
<p>I had been busy responding to the calls from clinicians to make these tools more agile, smaller in scale and responsive to more personalised healthcare. But the challenge set by the Syrian situation was a game-changer: we had to consider other new factors, such as making the scaffolds even more cost-effective and useable in demanding environments where it is very difficult to manage infection. </p>
<p>Part of our solution to these challenges was to use relatively low-cost 3D printing technology to create bone bricks with a degradable porous structure into which a special infection-fighting paste can be injected. The bone brick prosthesis and paste will prevent infection, promote bone regeneration and create a mechanically stable bone union during the healing period. </p>
<p>The challenge of creating this pioneering prosthesis led us on a journey to Turkey in 2016 where we met with academics, surgeons and medical companies. We were convinced that our proposed new technique could dramatically improve the medical response to life-changing limb injuries in the challenging conditions of these camps. It was clear that our project should be focused on patients within the Syrian refugee community in Turkey where they have found a safe haven from the horrors of war. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299448/original/file-20191030-17893-1m9chou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once we secured the backing of <a href="https://www.ukri.org/research/global-challenges-research-fund/">the Global Challenges Research Fund</a> (a £1.5 billion pot provided by the UK government to support cutting edge research that specifically addresses the challenges faced by developing countries) we began to put our project into motion. As a first step Weightman, Cooper and I visited <a href="https://www.sabanciuniv.edu/en">Sabanci University</a> in Istanbul to meet with our lead collaborator there, <a href="http://myweb.sabanciuniv.edu/bahattinkoc/">Bahattin Koç</a>, who introduced us to a group of clinicians who had been dealing with the refugees and their injuries firsthand and were able to share their knowledge. Their experiences gave us insight into the challenges of treating serious bone injuries in the field. </p>
<p>Our collaborators in Turkey helped to ensure we shaped the design and specifications of the bone bricks so they aligned as closely as possible to the needs of the frontline clinicians. During our stay in Istanbul we were constantly reminded of the human cost of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39252307">Syrian civil war</a>. We would often witness groups of displaced families, including children, who had fled the conflict and were seeking refuge and the chance to rebuild their lives. What we had seen on TV about Syria, with helicopters dropping bombs, was brought home to us. Some of my colleagues have children the same age as those we want to help and it made us even more determined to do something. </p>
<h2>War in Syria</h2>
<p>The Syrian conflict has displaced around 3 million refugees into Turkey, accounting for around 4% of its population. Turkey provides free healthcare services to Syrians and, as such, the burden on the healthcare system <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/turkey/turkey-response-syria-crisis-november-30-2016">is significant</a>, with 940,000 patients treated, 780,000 operations and 20.2 million outpatient services taken up between 2011 and 2017 alone.</p>
<p>The Turkish government <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/07/middleeast/turkey-syrian-refugees-istanbul-intl/index.html">says</a> it has spent more than US$37 billion hosting Syrian refugees. We hope that our bone bricks innovation can make a contribution to this crisis, helping to mitigate Turkey’s healthcare costs and also significantly improve the human cost of this crisis.</p>
<p>Our project is focused on bone injuries that are often caused by blast explosions, which are powerful enough to throw a person many yards and shatter bodies. Shoaib once said to us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you look at the way people were injured 100 years ago, 90% were the military and 10% were civilians. <a href="https://theconversation.com/modern-conflict-blurs-the-line-between-soldiers-and-civilians-28929">It’s now the other way around</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is certainly true for the Syrian crisis where thousands of people are suffering terrible injuries. Given that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/11/report-on-syria-conflict-finds-115-of-population-killed-or-injured">almost 2 million people</a> have been injured in the Syrian civil war, we estimate that 100,000 people have been affected by large bone loss and of those injured since 2013 there have been more than 30,000 amputations – equating to about 7,500 a year. Amputation has associated physical complications including heart attack, slow wound healing and the constant risk of infection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/modern-conflict-blurs-the-line-between-soldiers-and-civilians-28929">Modern conflict blurs the line between soldiers and civilians</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311580/original/file-20200123-162210-1ipki6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bone brick under x750 magnification.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paulo Bartolo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Catastrophic limb amputation</h2>
<p>Current bone repair techniques are complex. They include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The leg or arm being harnessed in a metal fixing device or cage which allows slow-growing bone tissue to reconnect. But this process frequently creates complications caused by metal wires transfixing and cutting through soft tissues as the frame is extended to lengthen the bone. It is a lengthy and meticulous. </p></li>
<li><p>Placing a pin or plate implant to stabilise the bone gap and enable the tissue to reconnect. This procedure requires complex surgery in specialist centres of excellence and can only be considered in extreme and selected cases.</p></li>
<li><p>Bone shortening procedures, where healing is stimulated by removing damaged bone tissue. Or there are forms of bone grafting techniques which use transplanted bone to repair and rebuild damaged bones. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>And it must be remembered, traumatic limb amputation is a catastrophic injury and an irreversible act that has a sudden and emotionally devastating impact on the patient. As a consequence, this not only impacts a person’s ability to earn a living but also brings very serious psychological issues for the patient because of the cultural stigma associated with limb loss.</p>
<p>External prosthetic limbs after amputation provide some with a solution but they are not suitable for all. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30782746">Studies show</a> that the long term healthcare costs of amputation are three times higher than those treated by limb salvage. Clearly, saving a limb offers a better quality of life and functional capacity than amputation and external prosthetics. </p>
<h2>Just like Lego</h2>
<p>With many blast injuries, the bone defects are totally impossible to heal. What we are doing is creating a temporary structure using bone bricks to fill the gap. Our treatment uses medical scaffolds, made up of polymer and ceramic materials, which can be clicked together like a Lego brick, creating a degradable structure which then allows new tissue to grow. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311657/original/file-20200123-162190-ql0zrz.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A prototype brick just off the 3D printer at the University of Manchester.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paulo Bartolo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are also developing software to allow the clinician, based on the information on the bone defect, to select the exact number of bone bricks with the specific shape and size and information on how to assemble – just like Lego instructions. The connection between the bone brick design and the 3D printing system is completed. We’re now in the process of integrating with the software that will link the scanning of information from the wound area with the identification of the correct type of bone bricks and assembly mechanism.</p>
<p>An antibiotic ceramic paste is stored in a hollow in the middle of the brick and is a highly practical way to combat infection while the limb repairs and hugely improves the chances of success. </p>
<p>The bone brick solution is much more cost effective than current methods of treatment. We expect our limb-saving solution will be less than £200 for a typical 100mm fracture injury. This is far cheaper than current solutions, which can cost between £270 and £1,000 for an artificial limb depending on the type needed. </p>
<h2>When will they be used on humans?</h2>
<p>My team and I are entering the final stages of a three-year project. Our team consists of academics and clinicians from Manchester and Turkey, as well as a pool of ten bone injury patients drawn from the UK, Turkey and Syria. We have already evaluated the modular bone bricks system in a computer simulation, created prototypes of the modular bone bricks using 3D printing technologies in the lab, and conducted in-vitro (laboratory) testing of mechanical and biological characterisation of the bricks. This will be followed by in-vivo (animal) testing to prepare the device for regulatory approval and a pathway to implementation by clinicians. Once all these stages are complete the project we will be ready to trial on human patients. </p>
<p>The final stage will then be to translate the research into building a useable, medical device. This will be undertaken by a follow-on clinical trial on about 20 patients with large bone loss, some of which we expect will be drawn from the Syrian refugee community. The project will be subject to strict ethical scrutiny and approval.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311585/original/file-20200123-162221-mrh1t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bone brick under Electron Microscopy scanning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paolo Bartolo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We hope this project will lead to further development of emergency healthcare in the developing world and could bring hope to a Syrian refugee community in dire need while their country rebuilds. Our long term hope is that bone bricks will be of use, not only in refugee crises, but also in many other healthcare situations, such as accidents and natural disasters – in both developing and developed nations. For example, in the UK around 2,000 patients a year receive treatment for severe fractures requiring surgical reconstruction for <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/About/what-we-do/Into-practice/measuring-uptake/NICE-Impact-falls-and-fragility-fractures.pdf">bone loss</a>. </p>
<p>The burden to the health service relating to major traumatic injuries is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27333868">estimated to be in excess of £0.5bn</a>. In addition, the estimated loss of contribution to the economy due to extended periods of rehabilitation is another <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rehabilitation-comms-guid-16-17.pdf">£3.5 billion</a>.</p>
<p>We believe the bone brick project could help alleviate some of those economic burdens and drastically improve the patient experience. But it is the plight of the Syrian refugees that continues to inspire and inform this project. We hope that, perhaps in five years’ time, bone bricks will be used in the field on humans, finally giving medics and victims an alternative to catastrophic limb amputation.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/they-put-a-few-coins-in-your-hands-to-drop-a-baby-in-you-265-stories-of-haitian-children-abandoned-by-un-fathers-114854?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘They put a few coins in your hands to drop a baby in you’ – 265 stories of Haitian children abandoned by UN fathers</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-world-a-history-of-how-a-silent-cosmos-led-humans-to-fear-the-worst-120193?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">The end of the world: a history of how a silent cosmos led humans to fear the worst</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/decades-neglecting-an-ancient-disease-has-triggered-a-health-emergency-around-the-world-121282?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Decades neglecting an ancient disease has triggered a health emergency around the world</a></em></p></li>
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114871/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article was written with the assistance of Shaden Jaradat from The University of Manchester. Bone bricks research credits go to Paulo Bartolo, Glen Cooper and Andrew Weightman from The University of Manchester, Bahattin Koc from Sabanci University in Turkey and Gordon Blunn from the University of Portsmouth, with clinical support from Amer Shoaib.
The research is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The research team is grateful for the excellent work conducted by a large number of post-doctoral research associates, PhD and MSc students.</span></em></p>A cutting edge new research project is developing Lego-like bricks made from biomaterials to replace bone fragments in shattered limbs.Paulo Bartolo, Chair Professor on Advanced Manufacturing, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1197642020-05-23T08:32:29Z2020-05-23T08:32:29Z3D-printed drugs could be a godsend for those on multiple pills a day – and potentially life saving<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337013/original/file-20200522-124845-188hi72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=163%2C303%2C4431%2C3194&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/daily-drug-dose-pills-organized-pill-1042487806">Szasz-Fabian Ilka Erika/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the population ages and rates of chronic disease rise, an increasing number of people are taking <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008165.pub4/abstract">multiple pills</a> for several conditions, often at different times throughout the day. Taking the right pill at the right time can be a hassle and potentially dangerous if a mistake is made. It is especially tough for people with dementia, for obvious reasons. It would be convenient and safe if people could take just one pill a day – a pill that delivers all the right medication at the right time in the right dose.</p>
<p>Pills normally work by releasing drugs into the body when their outer shell is dissolved in the digestive system. The drug inside then enters the bloodstream. But a cleverly designed pill could have many layers. After the first drug has been released, the next shell of the pill is exposed, which then dissolves, releasing a different drug. This would continue until the entire pill is dissolved. </p>
<p>It would also be possible to time the delivery of each drug by placing the drugs in layers that dissolve at different rates. This is not a future dream. These “polypills” are already being made, mostly for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart conditions.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to mass produce these polypills. But there is a drawback. A polypill with a specific combination of drugs doesn’t necessarily help all patients. Some people might not need one of the drugs or they might need them in different doses to those in a mass-produced polypill.</p>
<p>Making personalised polypills through the usual drug manufacturing techniques is very expensive as they are produced in very small amounts – often for just one patient. A much cheaper way of making these polypills is 3D printing, in which thin layers of materials are built up according to the design to make a final product.</p>
<h2>Printed pills</h2>
<p>A 3D-printed drug has already been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11095-016-1933-1">approved</a> by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but it is not a polypill. The FDA-approved pill is made of a water-soluble drug, but many drugs are not water soluble. Drugs either need to readily dissolve after entering the body or need to be dissolved before, for efficient absorption. And these limitations also apply to polypills.</p>
<p>We have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927775720305070">recently published research</a> on a type of material that has been used to contain water-insoluble drugs in the past, but that has never been 3D printed before. These materials are known as “surfactant-polyelectrolyte complexes”. These materials are gels made mostly of water, but their chemistry allows them to carry drugs that cannot be dissolved in water.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287677/original/file-20190812-71926-ljjquj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">3D printer for making polypills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surfactants are molecules with two parts: one part that likes to mix with water and the other that doesn’t. This means that surfactants tend to clump together with other molecules of the same type when they are placed in water so that the parts that don’t like water are shielded from it. These structures can store drugs inside them.</p>
<p>The surfactants in our study had a negative electrical charge, and the polymers (polyelectrolytes) had a positive electrical charge. So when the oppositely charged surfactants and polyelectrolytes came into contact, they were attracted to one another to form a “complex” (hence “surfactant-polyelectrolyte complexes”). That is to say we, they formed a 3D drug-carrying system.</p>
<p>We 3D printed alternating layers of polyelectrolyte and surfactant to make these complexes. These have the potential to store and deliver drug molecules in the form of pills. The pill can be made into a polypill simply by printing different layers with different drugs.</p>
<h2>Not there yet</h2>
<p>Although lots of research has already been done, this new form of drug delivery has much further to go, especially as it requires regulatory approval. These approvals take up to five years, after passing clinical trials.</p>
<p>Maybe in five years, some of us will get a prescription for customised polypills made on a 3D printer at our local pharmacies. People with multiple conditions will take one 3D-printed pill a day instead of a complex schedule of many pills, or perhaps even have the drugs implanted in their bodies.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>To find out more about the personalisation of healthcare listen to Medicine made for you, a series from The Conversation podcast The Anthill. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.</em></p>
<iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6pMpd8nUDPuHT4jj1JSB79" width="100%" height="250" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-anthill/id1114423002?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321534/original/file-20200319-22606-q84y3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=182&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL3VrL3BvZGNhc3RzL3RoZS1hbnRoaWxsLnJzcw%3D%3D"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author has been employed through an EPSRC grant (EP/N024818/1) 'Formulation for 3D printing: Creating a plug and play platform for a disruptive UK industry'. His work discussed in the article constitutes the project funded through the above grant.</span></em></p>New manufacturing processes will revolutionise the way we take our medicines.Saumil Vadodaria, Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1384642020-05-13T14:38:56Z2020-05-13T14:38:56ZCOVID-19 has blown away the myth about ‘First’ and ‘Third’ world competence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334609/original/file-20200513-156675-28cwm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Donald Trump has been widely slammed for mishandling the COVID-19 crisis, costing the US dearly. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the planet’s – and Africa’s – deepest prejudices is being demolished by the way countries handle COVID-19.</p>
<p>For as long as any of us remember, everyone “knew” that “First World” countries – in effect, Western Europe and North America – were much better at providing their citizens with a good life than the poor and incapable states of the “Third World”. “First World” has become shorthand for competence, sophistication and the highest political and economic standards.</p>
<p>So deep-rooted is this that even critics of the “First World” usually accept it. They might argue that it became that way by exploiting the rest of the world or that it is not morally or culturally superior. But they never question that it knows how to offer (some) people a better material life. Africans and others in the “Third World” often aspire to become like the “First World” – and to live in it, because that means living better.</p>
<p>So we should have expected the state-of-the-art health systems of the “First World”, spurred on by their aware and empowered citizens, to handle COVID-19 with relative ease, leaving the rest of the planet to endure the horror of buckling health systems and mass graves.</p>
<p>We have seen precisely the opposite. </p>
<h2>Fatal errors</h2>
<p>“First World” is often code for countries run by Europeans or people of European descent; some of the worst health performers on the globe in recent weeks have been “First World”. For Anglophone Africans, it is doubly interesting that two of the greatest failures in handling COVID-19 are the former coloniser, Britain, and the English-speaking superpower, the United States of America.</p>
<p>Both countries’ national governments have made just about every possible mistake in tackling COVID-19. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/446660/U-S-UK-first-ignored-corona-now-they-are-failing-to-contain">ignored the threat</a>. When they were forced to act, they <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mixed-white-house-messaging-coronavirus-sparks-internal-frustration-n1152606">sent mixed signals</a> to citizens which encouraged many to act in ways which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/18/how-did-britain-get-its-response-to-coronavirus-so-wrong">spread the infection</a>. Neither did anything like the testing needed to control the virus. Both failed to equip their hospitals and health workers with the equipment they needed, triggering many avoidable deaths.</p>
<p>The failure was political. The US is the only rich country with no national health system. An attempt by former president Barack Obama to <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/obamacare-definition-3306077">extend affordable care</a> was watered down by right-wing resistance, then <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-24370967">further gutted by the current president and his party</a>. Britain’s much-loved <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/">National Health Service</a> has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/25/boris-johnson-conservatives-nhs-funding">weakened by spending cuts</a>. Both governments failed to fight the virus in time because they had other priorities.</p>
<p>And yet, in Britain, the government’s <a href="https://ukpollingreport.co.uk/">popularity ratings are sky high</a> and it is expected to win the next election comfortably. The US president is behind in the polls but the contest is close enough to <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/">make his re-election a real possibility</a>. Can there be anything more typically “Third World” than citizens supporting a government whose actions cost thousands of lives?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-south-africa-needs-to-forge-a-resilient-social-compact-for-covid-19-138171">What South Africa needs to forge a resilient social compact for Covid-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Western European countries such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/spain-coronavirus-spreading-month-lockdown-200424085528959.html">Spain</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-cases.html">Italy</a> and Africa’s other wholesale coloniser, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52615733">France</a>, also battled to contain the virus. Some European countries have coped reasonably well, as have some run by the descendants of Europeans such as <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31097-7/fulltext">New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-52616232/coronavirus-crowd-concerns-as-australia-s-restrictions-ease">Australia</a>. But the star performers are not in the historical “First World”.</p>
<h2>Effective responses</h2>
<p>The most effective response was probably South Korea’s, followed by other East Asian states and territories. This is partly because they are used to dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. But it is also because they learned from experience: South Korea’s success is due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-korea-flattened-the-coronavirus-curve-with-technology-136202">very effective testing and tracing of infected people</a>. Whatever the reason, it is East Asia, not “the West”, which has done what the “First World” is expected to do.</p>
<p>Some would reply that East Asia is now “First World”. So, it is still superior; it has simply changed its address. This is debatable. But, even if it is accepted, some places have contained the virus in distinctly “Third World” conditions.</p>
<p>Kerala was the first Indian state to encounter the virus but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/21/kerala-indian-state-flattened-coronavirus-curve">has kept deaths down to three</a>. It had largely curbed COVID-19 but is now dealing with nearly 200 cases, all people arriving from other parts of India. Judging by its record so far, it will contain this outbreak too.</p>
<p>Kerala, too, has learnt from handling previous epidemics. It also has a strong health system. But one of its key tools is <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/kerala-covid-19-response-model-emulation/">citizen participation</a>: it has worked with neighbourhood watches and citizen volunteers to track the contacts of infected people. Students were recruited to build kiosks at which citizens were tested. Kerala also had the capacity to ensure that all children entitled to school meals received them after schools were closed: non-governmental organisations were mostly responsible, emphasising the partnership between the government and citizens.</p>
<p>Kerala’s performance is not a fluke: it has, for years, produced better health outcomes and literacy rates than the rest of India.</p>
<p>Nor has Africa’s response to the virus confirmed prejudices. When COVID-19 began spreading, it became almost routine for reports, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-an-existential-threat-to-africa-and-her-crowded-slums-135829">commentaries</a> – and Melinda Gates, who, with her husband Bill, heads the couple’s development foundation – to predict that Africa would be engulfed in death as the virus ripped through its weak health systems. This is, after all, what is meant to happen in the “Third World” and particularly in Africa, which is always considered the least capable continent on the planet.</p>
<p>So far, it has not happened. It still might but, even if it does, some countries are coping better than the dire predictions claimed (and, perhaps, better than the “First World”). One stand-out is Senegal, which has devised a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2020/04/senegal-1-covid-19-test-kit-race-vaccine-200425131112353.html">cheap test for the virus</a> and has used 3-D printing to produce ventilators at a fraction of the going price. Africa, too, has experienced recent outbreaks, notably of Ebola, and seems to have learned valuable lessons from them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-africa-needs-to-battle-unique-challenges-to-keep-coronavirus-numbers-down-136001">Why Africa needs to battle unique challenges to keep coronavirus numbers down</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Inspiring</h2>
<p>The “First World” is still far richer than the rest of the planet and may well remain so. So its politicians, academics and journalists will probably still believe they are better than the rest.</p>
<p>But the COVID-19 experience may just trigger new thinking in the “Third World”. The most basic function of a government is to protect the safety of its citizens. Ensuring that people remain healthy is at least as important a guarantee of safety as protecting them from violence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-covid-19-provides-a-lesson-for-africa-to-fund-social-assistance-137175">Explainer: why COVID-19 provides a lesson for Africa to fund social assistance</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Reasonable people would surely much rather be living in Kerala or Senegal (or East Asia) right now than in Europe and North America, raising obvious questions about who really does offer a better life.</p>
<p>That should inspire Africans and others in the “Third World” to ask themselves whether it makes sense to want to be America, Britain or France. COVID-19 has made a strong argument for wanting to be East Asia – or, given Africa’s circumstances, Kerala.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Friedman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the worst health performers in recent weeks have been ‘First World’.Steven Friedman, Professor of Political Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1374862020-05-05T03:01:26Z2020-05-05T03:01:26ZMillions of products have been 3D printed for the coronavirus pandemic – but they bring risks<p>With the COVID-19 pandemic, an urgent need has risen worldwide for specialised health and medical products. In a scramble to meet demand, “makers” in Australia and internationally have turned to 3D printing to address shortfalls.</p>
<p>These days 3D printers aren’t uncommon. In 2016, an estimated <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/careers/startups-me3d-makers-empire-raise-on-school-3d-printing-boom-20170711-gx99wp">3% of Australian households owned one</a> – not to mention those available in schools, universities, libraries, community makerspaces and businesses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332125/original/file-20200503-42903-10jpgec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A collection of desktop 3D printers in the Deakin University 3DEC lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Novak</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Across Europe and the United States, access to essential personal protective equipment (PPE) remains a concern, with nearly half of all doctors in the UK reportedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/03/nearly-half-of-british-doctors-forced-to-find-their-own-ppe-new-data-shows">forced to source their own PPE</a>.</p>
<p>In Australia, reports from March and early April showed <a href="https://anmj.org.au/nationally-consistent-policy-needed-to-ensure-nurses-have-enough-personal-protective-equipment-ppe-in-fight-against-covid-19/">hospital staff reusing PPE</a>, and health-care workers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/07/health-workers-going-to-bunnings-to-source-personal-protective-equipment-doctor-tells-qa">sourcing PPE at hardware stores</a> due to shortages. </p>
<p>The global supply chain for these vital products has been disrupted by widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-roadmap-gives-australia-two-paths-out-of-covid-19-lockdown-elimination-or-adaptation-137494">lockdowns</a> and reduced travel. Now, 3D printing is proving more nimble and adaptable manufacturing methods. Unfortunately, it’s also less suited for producing large numbers of items, and there are unanswered questions about safety and quality control.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-3d-printing-myths-119887">Five 3D printing myths</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<h2>Sharing is caring</h2>
<p>One of the earliest examples of 3D printing being used for pandemic-related purposes is from mid-February. One Chinese manufacturer made <a href="https://creality.com/info/makers-guide-3d-printed-protective-goggles-to-prevent-yourself-from-the-novel-coronavirus-i00247i1.html">3D-printed protective goggles</a> for medics in Wuhan. With 50 3D printers working around the clock, they were producing about 300 pairs daily.</p>
<p>Designers, engineers, students, manufacturers, doctors and charities have used 3D printing to produce a variety of products including face shields, masks, ventilator components, hands-free door openers and nasal swabs. </p>
<p>Many designs are freely shared online through platforms such as the <a href="https://3dprint.nih.gov/collections/covid-19-response">NIH 3D Print Exchange</a>. This US-based 3D printing community recently <a href="https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/fda-efforts-connect-manufacturers-and-health-care-entities-fda-department-veterans-affairs-national">partnered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)</a> and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to assist with validating designs uploaded by the community. So far, 18 3D-printable products have been approved for clinical use (although this is not the same as FDA approval).</p>
<p>Such online platforms allow makers around the world not only to print products based on uploaded designs, but also to propose improvements and share them with others.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JAfn36d1s0s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Makers are using various ways to 3D print medical supplies during COVID-19.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should</h2>
<p>In a public health crisis of COVID-19’s magnitude, you may think having any PPE or medical equipment is better than none. </p>
<p>However, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) – our regulatory body for medical products – has not yet endorsed specific 3D-printed products for emergency use during COVID-19. <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/collection/covid-19">Applications for this can be made</a> by manufacturers registered with the TGA.</p>
<p>However, the TGA is providing <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/manufacturing-medical-devices-covid-19-including-3-d-printing">guidelines</a> which designers, engineers and manufacturers are working with. For example, Australian group <a href="https://www.covidsos.com.au/">COVID SOS</a> aims to respond to direct requests by frontline medical workers for equipment they or their hospital need. So, local designers and manufacturers are directly connected to those in need.</p>
<p>3D printing provides a means to manufacture unique and specialised products on demand, in a process known as “distributed manufacturing”.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, compared with mass production methods, <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2642918.2647359">3D printing is extremely slow</a>. Certain types of 3D-printed face shields and masks take more than an hour to print on a standard desktop 3D printer. In comparison, the process of “injection moudling” in factory mass production takes mere seconds.</p>
<p>That said, 3D printing is flexible. Makers can print depending on what’s needed in their community. It also allows designers to improve over time and products can get better with each update. The popular <a href="https://www.prusa3d.com/covid19/">Prusa face shield</a> developed in the Czech Republic has already been 3D printed more than 100,000 times. It’s now on its third iteration, which is twice as fast to print as the previous version.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332123/original/file-20200503-42956-1vcp61f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Prusa RC3 face shield 3D printed on a desktop 3D printer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Novak</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Opportunity vs risk</h2>
<p>But despite the good intent behind most 3D printing, there are complications. </p>
<p>Do these opportunities outweigh the risks of unregulated, untested product used for critical health care situations? For instance, if the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2004973">SARS-CoV-2 virus can survive two to three days on plastic surfaces</a>, it’s theoretically possible for an infected maker to transfer the virus to someone else via a 3D-printed product.</p>
<p>Medical products must be sterilised, but who will ensure this is done if traditional supply chains are bypassed? Also, some of the common materials makers use to 3D print, such as <a href="https://www.simplify3d.com/support/materials-guide/pla/">PLA</a>, aren’t durable enough to withstand the high heat and chemicals used for sterilisation. </p>
<p>And if 3D-printed products are <a href="https://mobilitygoesadditive.org/press-releases/mga-to-hand-over-5000-face-shields-to-johanniter-unfall-hilfe-tomorrow-thanks-to-call-for-help/">donated to hospitals in large batches</a>, identifying and treating different materials accordingly would be challenging.</p>
<p>For my research, I’ve been tracking 3D-printed products produced for the pandemic. In a soon-to-be-published study, I identify 34 different designs for face shields shared online prior to April 1. So, how do medical practitioners know which design to trust? </p>
<p>If a patient or worker is injured while wearing one, or becomes infected with COVID-19, who is responsible? The original designer? The person who printed the product? The website hosting the design? </p>
<p>These complex issues will likely take years to resolve with health regulators. And with this comes a chance for Australia – as a figurehead in <a href="https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-7018-9.ch002">3D printing education</a> – to lead the creation of validated, open source databases for emergency 3D printing. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-3d-printing-rebuild-manufacturing-in-australia-16670">Can 3D printing rebuild manufacturing in Australia?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Novak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Designers, engineers, makers and doctors worldwide have used 3D printing to produce products such as face shields, face masks, ventilator components, hands-free door openers and nasal swabs.James Novak, Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Additive Manufacturing, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1332182020-04-24T12:22:31Z2020-04-24T12:22:31ZAs the coronavirus interrupts global supply chains, people have an alternative – make it at home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329575/original/file-20200421-82666-1kto1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5982%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many items labeled "Made in China" could be made on people's desktops instead.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/printing-machine-royalty-free-image/1065223632?adppopup=true">kynny/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As COVID-19 <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-04-10/coronavirus-outbreak-throws-future-of-global-trade-into-question">wreaks havoc on global supply chains</a>, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.47">trend of moving manufacturing closer to customers</a> could go so far as to put miniature manufacturing plants in people’s living rooms. </p>
<p>Most products in Americans’ homes are labeled “Made in China,” but even those bearing the words “Made in USA” frequently have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-cripples-supply-chains-for-many-small-u-s-businesses-11582286402">parts from China</a> that are now often delayed. The coronavirus pandemic closed so many factories in China that <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/04/811019032/why-chinas-air-has-been-cleaner-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak">NASA could observe the resultant drop in pollution from space</a>, and some products are becoming harder to find. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319997/original/file-20200311-116281-1hbaqwp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sample from the thousands of items that can be 3D printed from free designs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Pearce</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But at the same time, there are open-source, freely available digital designs for making millions of items with 3D printers, and their numbers are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechatronics.2013.06.002">growing exponentially</a>, as is an interest in open hardware design <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3030044">in academia</a>. Some designs are already being shared for <a href="https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0054.v1">open-source medical hardware to help during the pandemic</a>, like <a href="https://www.prusa3d.com/covid19/">face shields</a>, <a href="https://freesewing.org/blog/facemask-frenzy">masks</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.22942.1">ventilators</a>. The free digital product designs go far beyond pandemic hardware. </p>
<p>The cost of 3D printers has dropped low enough to be accessible to most Americans. People can download, customize and print a remarkable range of products at home, and they often end up <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">costing less than it takes to purchase them</a>.</p>
<h2>From rapid prototyping to home factory</h2>
<p>Not so long ago, the prevailing thinking in industry was that the lowest-cost manufacturing was large, mass manufacturing in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00514.x">low-labor-cost countries</a> like China. At the time, in the early 2000s, only Fortune 500 companies and major research universities had access to 3D printers. The machines were massive, expensive tools used to rapidly prototype parts and products. </p>
<p>More than a decade ago, the patents expired on the first type of 3D printing, and a professor in Britain had the intriguing idea of making a 3D printer that could print itself. He started the <a href="https://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap">RepRap project</a> – short for self-replicating rapid prototyper – and released the designs with open-source licenses on the web. The designs spread like wildfire and were quickly hacked and improved upon by thousands of engineers and hobbyists all over the world. </p>
<p>Many of these makers started their own companies to produce variants of these 3D printers, and people can now buy a 3D printer for US$250 to $550. Today’s 3D printers are full-fledged additive manufacturing robots, which build products one layer at a time. Additive manufacturing is infiltrating many industries. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329572/original/file-20200421-82645-6xq470.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">3D printers turn digital designs into toys, household items and even medical equipment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/printing-machine-with-cad-design-on-screen-in-royalty-free-image/571978289?adppopup=true">Monty Rakusen/Cultura via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I have observed clear trends as the technology threatens <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.47">major disruption to global value chains</a>. In general, companies are moving from using 3D printing for prototyping to adopting it to make products they need internally. They’re also using 3D printing to move manufacturing closer to their customers, which reduces the need for inventory and shipping. Some customers have bought 3D printers and are making the products for themselves.</p>
<p>This is not a small trend. Amazon now lists 3D printing filament, the raw material for 3D printers, under “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T2QZYQD/ref=dp_cerb_1">Amazon Basics</a>” along with batteries and towels. In general, people will save <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">90% to 99% off the commercial price</a> of a product when they print it at home.</p>
<h2>Coronavirus accelerates a trend</h2>
<p>We had expected that adoption of 3D printing and the move toward distributed manufacturing would be a slow process as more and more products were printed by more and more people. But that was before there was a real risk of products becoming unavailable as the coronavirus spread. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329564/original/file-20200421-82677-oymhf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The U.S. government is curating a collection of 3D printing designs for medical personal protective equipment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dr. Beth Ripley, VHA 3D Printing Network</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A good example of sharp demand for 3D printed products is <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/tech/coronavirus-crisis-3d-printing-ventilators">personal protective equipment (PPE)</a>. The National Institutes of Health 3D Print Exchange, a relativity small design repository, has <a href="https://3dprint.nih.gov/collections/covid-19-response">exploded with new PPE designs</a>. </p>
<p>Already, because of the global impact of the coronavirus, <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/02/21/fortune-1000-coronavirus-china-supply-chain-impact/">94% of Fortune 1000 companies</a> are having their supplies chains disrupted and <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/veeraraghavan-supply-chain/">businesses dependent on global sourcing</a> are facing hard choices.</p>
<p>The value of industrial commodities continues to slide because the coronavirus has put a major dent in demand as manufacturers shut down and potential customers are quarantined. This will limit people’s access to products while increasing their costs. </p>
<p>The disruptions to global supply chains caused by strict quarantines, stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures in industrialized nations around the world present an opportunity for distributed manufacturing to fill unmet needs. Many people are likely, in the short to medium term, to find some products unavailable or overly expensive. </p>
<p>In many cases, they will be able to make the products they need themselves (if they have access to a printer). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.47">Our research on the global value chains</a> found that 3D printing with plastics in particular are well advanced so any product with a considerable number of polymer components, even if the parts are flexible, can be 3D printed.</p>
<h2>Beyond plastics</h2>
<p>Making functional <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5030045">toys</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies5010007">household products</a> at home is easy even for beginners. So are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3040089">adaptive aids for arthritis patients</a> and other medical products and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/38728877/Fab_Lab_Applications_of_Large-Area_Waste_Polymer-based_Additive_Manufacturing">sporting goods like skateboards</a>. </p>
<p>Metal and ceramic 3D printing is already available and expanding rapidly for a range of items, from <a href="https://www.3dnatives.com/en/best-3d-printed-implants-230720195/">high-cost medical implants</a> to rocket engines to improving simple bulk manufactured products with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp2010018">3D printed brackets at low costs</a>. Printable <a href="https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-electronics-5-most-advanced-companies/">electronics</a>, <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/books/pharmaceutical-formulation-design-recent-practices/3d-printing-in-pharmaceutical-sector-an-overview">pharmaceuticals</a> and larger items like furniture are starting to become available or will be in the near future. These more advanced 3D printers could help accelerate the trend toward distributed manufacturing, even if they don’t end up in people’s homes.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.tctmagazine.com/is-3d-printing-magic-bullet-supply-chain-covid-19/">some hurdles</a>, particularly for consumer 3D printing. 3D printing filament is itself subject to disruptions in global supply chains, although <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2018.e00026">recyclebot</a> technology allows people to create filament from waste plastic. Some metal 3D printers are still expensive and the fine metal powder many of them use as raw material is potentially hazardous if inhaled, but there are now $1,200 <a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Open-source_metal_3-D_printer">metal printers that use more accessible welding wire</a>. These new printers as well as those that can do multiple materials still need development, and there’s a long way to go before all products and their components can be 3D printed at home. Think computer chips.</p>
<p>When my colleagues and I initially analyzed when products would be available for distributed manufacturing, we focused only on economics. If the coronavirus continues to disrupt supply chains and hamper international trade, however, the demand for unavailable or costly products could speed up the transition to distributed manufacturing of all products.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Joshua M. Pearce has received funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL) through America Makes: The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which is managed and operated by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). He also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 3D printing related projects. In addition, his past and present research is supported by many non-profits and for-profit companies in the open source additive manufacturing industry including re:3D, Miller, Aleph Objects, Lulzbot, CNC Router Parts, Virtual Foundry, Ultimaker and Youmagine, Cheap 3D Filaments, MyMiniFactory, Zeni Kinetic, Matter Hackers, and Ultimachine. </span></em></p>The rush to make personal protective equipment like facemasks and face shields using 3D printers shows that the technology can help circumvent global supply chain disruptions.Joshua M. Pearce, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1336262020-03-23T19:04:55Z2020-03-23T19:04:55ZUrban owls are losing their homes. So we’re 3D printing them new ones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322260/original/file-20200323-112677-5uc34d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C17%2C2803%2C1580&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Bradsworth</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Native to southeastern Australia, the powerful owl (<em>Ninox strenua</em>) is <a href="https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/conserving-threatened-species/threatened-list">threatened</a> and facing the prospect of homelessness. </p>
<p>These birds don’t make nests – they use large hollows in old, tall trees. But humans <a href="https://doi.org/10/gc3d8n">have been removing</a> such trees in the bush and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099403">in cities</a>, despite their ecological value. </p>
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Read more:
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Owls are lured into cities by abundant prey, with each bird capturing <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/possum-assassins-move-into-town-20030913-gdwc1e.html">hundreds of possums per year</a>. But with nowhere to nest, they <a href="https://www.uppercampaspelandcare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Powerful-owls-Bronwyn-Isaac-March-2015.pdf">struggle</a> to breed and their population is at risk of declining even further.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322261/original/file-20200323-112707-oeoljh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Existing artificial nest designs include nesting boxes and carved logs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conservationists tried to solve this problem by installing nesting boxes, but to no avail. A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290200038_A_powerful_Owl_disperses_into_town_and_uses_an_artificial_nest-box">2011 study</a> in Victoria showed a pair of owls once used such a box, but only one of their two chicks survived. This is the only recorded instance of powerful-owl breeding in an artificial structure. </p>
<p>So as a team of designers and ecologists we’re finding a way to make artificial nests in urban areas more appealing to powerful owls. Surprisingly, the answer lies in termite mounds, augmented reality and 3D printing. </p>
<h2>Bring in the designers</h2>
<p>Nesting boxes aren’t very successful for many species. For example, many boxes installed along expanded <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-plan-to-protect-wildlife-displaced-by-the-hume-highway-has-failed-78087">highways</a> fail to attract animals such as the squirrel glider, the superb parrot and the brown treecreeper. They also tend to disintegrate and become unusable after only a few years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-plan-to-protect-wildlife-displaced-by-the-hume-highway-has-failed-78087">The plan to protect wildlife displaced by the Hume Highway has failed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What’s more, flaws in their design can lead to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322544621_Nest_box_design_for_a_changing_climate_The_value_of_improved_insulation">overheating</a>, death from <a href="https://nestwatch.org/connect/news/to-paint-or-not-to-paint/">toxic fumes</a> such as marine-plywood vapours, or babies unable to grow.</p>
<p>Designers and architects often use computer modelling to mimic <a href="https://www.academia.edu/208933/Towards_Morphogenesis_in_Architecture">nature</a> in building designs, such as Beijing’s <a href="https://www.arup.com/-/media/arup/files/publications/t/arup_journal_1-2009.pdf">bird’s nest</a> stadium.</p>
<p>But to use these skills to help wildlife, we need to understand what they want in a home. And for powerful owls, this means thinking outside the box. </p>
<h2>What powerful owls need</h2>
<p>At a minimum, owl nests must provide enough space to support a mother and two chicks, shelter the inhabitants from rain and heat, and have rough internal surfaces for scratching and climbing.</p>
<p>Traditionally, owls would find all such comforts in large, old, hollow-bearing trees, such as swamp or manna gums <a href="https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/32882/Powerful_Owl_Ninox_strenua.pdf">at least 150 years old</a>. But a <a href="https://www.oferlevyphotography.com/Birds-of-prey/i-j5JMnWs/A">picture</a> from Sydney photographer Ofer Levy, which showed an owl nesting in a tree-bound termite mound, made us realise there was another way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322262/original/file-20200323-112688-o530b1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Owls have been observed using termite mounds in trees for nesting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blantyre</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Termite mounds in trees are oddly shaped, but they meet all necessary characteristics for successful breeding. This precedent suggests younger, healthier and more common trees can become potential nesting sites. </p>
<h2>A high-tech home</h2>
<p>To design and create each termite-inspired nest, we first use lasers to model the shape of the target tree. A <a href="https://www.academia.edu/40371565/Modelling_Workflows_for_More-than-Human_Design_Prosthetic_Habitats_for_the_Powerful_Owl_Ninox_strenua_">computer algorithm</a> generates the structure fitting the owls’ requirements. Then, we divide the structure into interlocking blocks that can be conveniently manufactured.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322263/original/file-20200323-112712-tasmfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trees and their surroundings can be scanned by lasers for precise fitting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To assemble the nests, we use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality">augmented-reality</a> headsets, overlaying images of digital models onto physical objects. It sounds like science-fiction, but <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337915977_Holographic_Construction">holographic construction</a> with augmented reality has become an <a href="https://www.boeing.com/features/2018/01/augmented-reality-01-18.page">efficient way to create new structures</a>.</p>
<p>So far, we’ve used <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00107-015-0987-9">3D-printed wood</a> to build one nest at the University of Melbourne’s System Garden. Two more nests made from <a href="https://www.scientific.net/AMR.1041.83">hemp concrete</a> are on the trees in the city of Knox, near the Dandenong Ranges. And we’re exploring other materials such as <a href="https://eartharchitecture.org/">earth</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263517300353">fungus</a>.</p>
<p>These materials can be moulded to a unique fit, and as they’re lightweight, we can easily fix them onto trees.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322264/original/file-20200323-112712-f3k3j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With augmented reality, it is easy to know where to place each block. Right: Views from the augmented reality headset.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So is it working?</h2>
<p>We are still collecting and analysing the data, but early results are promising. Our nests have important advantages over both traditional nesting boxes and carved logs.</p>
<p>This is, in part, because our artificial nests maintain more stable internal temperatures than nesting boxes and are considerably easier to make and install than carved logs. In other words, our designs already look like a good alternative. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bandbs-for-birds-and-bees-transform-your-garden-or-balcony-into-a-wildlife-haven-129907">B&Bs for birds and bees: transform your garden or balcony into a wildlife haven</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And while it’s too early to say if they’ll attract owls, our nests have already been visited or occupied by other animals, such as rainbow lorikeets. </p>
<h2>Future homes for animal clients</h2>
<p>Imagine an ecologist, a park manager or even a local resident who wants to <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/nature-in-the-city-strategy.pdf">boost local biodiversity</a>. In the not-too-distant future, they might select a target species and a suitable tree from an online database. An algorithm could customise their choice of an artificial-nest design to fit the target tree. Remote machines would manufacture the parts and the end user would put the structure together.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322265/original/file-20200323-112694-1i3vv8e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nests from 3D printed wood are easy to install.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such workflows are already being used in a variety of fields, such as the custom <a href="https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/">jewellery</a> production and the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2015.914">preparation of dental crowns</a>. It allows informed and automated reuse of scientific and technical knowledge, making advanced designs significantly more accessible.</p>
<p>Our techniques could be used to ease the housing crisis for a wide range of other sites and species, from fire-affected animals to critically endangered wildlife such as the swift parrot or Leadbeater’s possum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kylie Soanes receives funding from The National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub and the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub. She is a board member of the Greater Melbourne Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Isaac, Dan Parker, Nick Bradsworth, Stanislav Roudavski, and Therésa Jones do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Powerful owls need old, hollowed-out trees to nest in, but humans keep chopping them down. Now, designers have partnered up with ecologists to build them high tech artificial nests.Dan Parker, PhD Candidate, The University of MelbourneBronwyn Isaac, Lecturer, Monash UniversityKylie Soanes, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of MelbourneNick Bradsworth, PhD Candidate, Deakin UniversityStanislav Roudavski, Senior Lecturer in Digital Architectural Design, The University of MelbourneTherésa Jones, Associate Professor in Evolution and Behaviour, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1328172020-03-03T12:33:11Z2020-03-03T12:33:11ZFrom 3D printing drugs to social prescribing – Medicine made for you part 3<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318134/original/file-20200302-18275-qqrshn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=62%2C0%2C5919%2C3826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/medicine-doctor-hand-working-modern-computer-326305964">everything possible/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the third and final episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/medicine-made-for-you-82269">Medicine made for you</a>, a series from <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-anthill-podcast-27460">The Anthill</a> podcast that takes a deep dive into the future of healthcare, we’re exploring how treatment offered by your doctor could become more tailored to you in the future. </p>
<hr>
<iframe src="https://player.acast.com/5e3bf1111a6e452f6380a7bc/episodes/medicine-made-for-you-part-3-your-treatment?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="110px" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-564" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/564/df7570dc1ec7680034215f0ca19d2e0378e13f3b/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>In the past, if you walked into a pharmacy and told them you weren’t feeling well, the pharmacist would probably have made up a powder for you – your own personalised medicine. But with the introduction of antibiotics and modern medicine that is much more regulated, this personalised service fell away. </p>
<p>In the 21st century, some researchers are looking at ways to reintroduce some level of personalisation into pharmaceuticals – using 3D printing. Robert Forbes, professor of clinical pharmaceutics at the University of Central Lancashire, is working on a pilot project to <a href="https://alderhey.nhs.uk/contact-us/press-office/latest-news/3d-printed-pills-could-enable-doctors-tailor-medication-children">3D print drugs in smaller doses for children</a>. There is even the possibility that similar technology could be used to 3D print polypills containing multiple medications that could replace the pill or dosette boxes which pharmacists prepare for patients who need to take multiple medications each day. He says while it’s still a long way off, he could imagine a world in which devices relay information that’s then used to adjust the regular medications printed by 3D printers:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There may be diagnostics devices that we’re walking around with and information on our bodily functions is being fed automatically to some computer. Then, at a certain time, that information is analysed and … then you would get your medicines printed for the week or the month, and that would give you your personalised, individualised tablets. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other researchers are looking into more ways to personalise the treatment options available to patients. One is to give GPs the tools to provide patients with more information about their condition, and then make the treatment choice that’s appropriate for them. Mike Messenger, head of personalised medicine and health at the University of Leeds, says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>So each individual will have, maybe, a live dashboard of what their current greatest health risks are. And they will then be able to work with healthcare professionals or other private providers, fitness companies or nutrition companies, to maintain their health and to drive down the areas of greatest risk … So when they do become unwell, in addition to focusing on the symptoms that they present with, they can also take into consideration other risk factors or other sources of information that might inform that particular treatment decision.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Messenger talks about a <a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/news/article/341/lives-saved-as-leeds-lung-health-checks-reach-3-000">large lung cancer screening trial</a> that uses electronic healthcare records to identify patients at risk, and then invite them for CT scans in car parks. So far, they’ve identified 40 cases of cancer. </p>
<p>In this episode we’ll also hear about the growth of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/social-prescribing-51963">social prescribing</a>, programmes through which GPs can refer patients to a link worker who can help them access a host of other services in the community to help improve their health and wellbeing.</p>
<p>These programmes are traditionally used for older patients or those with overlapping health conditions who GPs feel would benefit from extra social support. But they are also being used for mental health patients. Social prescribing has attracted more political attention in the UK in recent years and is included in the <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social-prescribing/">NHS long-term plan for England</a>.</p>
<p>Christopher Dayson, principal research fellow in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, who has been <a href="https://www4.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/ourexpertise/evaluation-rotherham-social-prescribing-pilot">evaluating the social prescribing model</a> in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, explains that it has had a real benefit for patients:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We see an immediate boost for their wellbeing. They get referred to social prescribing and immediately they feel happier. They’re often less isolated, more socially connected. It’s really affecting those who had low wellbeing most positively.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Rotherham, Dayson says there was also a “6% reduction in emergency inpatient spells and a 13% reduction in accident emergency attendances in the 12 months following the initial referral to social prescribing”.</p>
<p>We also hear from Alison Fixsen, senior lecturer for the School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster, about some of the potential structural challenges of social prescribing, particularly if the activities people are referred to are run by community organisations that don’t have enough resources. She said it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to neglect public services by putting all the responsibility back onto individuals: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If they haven’t got enough agency, or they’re too vulnerable to be able to either do that activity or to continue it, and if those services in the community are not being properly funded either, but just relying on the goodwill of individuals … then what you’re going to end up with is just another system which is not actually reducing health inequalities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can listen <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-scientists-are-using-dna-to-target-new-drugs-for-your-genes-medicine-made-for-you-part-1-131986">here to Medicine made for you part 1</a>, focusing on genes, clinical trials and precision medicine, and here to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-personal-will-nutritional-advice-become-in-the-future-medicine-made-for-you-part-2-132387">part 2</a> on how diets could become more personalised in the future. </p>
<p><em>The music in this episode is <a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Reappear/04_-_Is_That_You_or_Are_You_You">Is That You or Are You You?</a> by Chris Zabriskie, <a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Christian_Bjoerklund/Skapmat/christian_bjoerklund_-_skpmat_ep_-_01_-_hallon">Hallon</a> and <a href="https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Christian_Bjoerklund/Skapmat/christian_bjoerklund_-_skpmat_ep_-_03_-_fb-01_2">FB-01_#2</a> by Christian Bjoerklund and Serenade for String Orchestra, No 20 by Edward Elgar performed by <a href="https://musopen.org/music/29754-serenade-for-string-orchestra-op-20/#recordings">US Army Strings</a>. Medicine made for you is produced and reported by Holly Squire and Gemma Ware, and hosted by Annabel Bligh for The Anthill podcast. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
PODCAST: The third part of a series from The Anthill podcast on how personalised medicine may become in the future.Annabel Bligh, Business & Economy Editor and Podcast Producer, The Conversation UKGemma Ware, Head of AudioHolly Squire, Special Projects Editor, The Conversation UKLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1286912020-01-10T13:44:48Z2020-01-10T13:44:48Z3D printing of body parts is coming fast – but regulations are not ready<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308264/original/file-20191227-11946-1cbxez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=511%2C329%2C5171%2C3123&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The technology of producing biological parts is advancing, raising new legal and regulatory questions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Observing_bioprinting.jpg">Philip Ezze</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the last few years, the use of 3D printing has exploded in medicine. Engineers and medical professionals now routinely 3D print <a href="https://3dprint.nih.gov/collections/prosthetics">prosthetic hands</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6287965/">surgical tools</a>. But 3D printing has only just begun to transform the field. </p>
<p>Today, a quickly emerging set of technologies known as bioprinting is poised to push the boundaries further. Bioprinting uses 3D printers and techniques to fabricate the <a href="https://idp.nature.com/transit?redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fnbt.2958&code=2a6b278c-d998-4bac-bdba-60370002144b">three-dimensional structures of biological materials</a>, from cells to biochemicals, through precise layer-by-layer positioning. The ultimate goal is to replicate functioning tissue and material, such as organs, which can then be transplanted into human beings. </p>
<p>We have been mapping the adoption of 3D printing technologies in the field of health care, and particularly bioprinting, in a collaboration between the law schools of <a href="https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/cippm/">Bournemouth University</a> in the United Kingdom and <a href="https://www.slu.edu/law/health/index.php">Saint Louis University</a> in the United States. While the future looks promising from a technical and scientific perspective, it’s far from clear how bioprinting and its products will be regulated. Such uncertainty can be problematic for manufacturers and patients alike, and could prevent bioprinting from living up to its promise.</p>
<h2>From 3D printing to bioprinting</h2>
<p>Bioprinting has its origins in 3D printing. Generally, 3D printing refers to all technologies that use a process of joining materials, usually layer upon layer, to make objects from data described in a digital 3D model. Though the technology initially had limited applications, it is now a widely recognized manufacturing system that is used across a broad range of industrial sectors. Companies are now 3D printing <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahgoehrke/2018/12/05/additive-manufacturing-is-driving-the-future-of-the-automotive-industry/#547ab75e75cc">car parts</a>, education tools like <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:258112">frog dissection kits</a> and even <a href="https://all3dp.com/first-residential-3d-printed-home-ready-moving-day-yaroslavl-russia/">3D-printed houses</a>. Both the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/air-force-3d-printing-parts-manufacturing-olympics/">United States Air Force</a> and <a href="https://www.hmgaerospace.com/news/inflight/british-airways-explores-3d-printing-opportunities/">British Airways</a> are developing ways of 3D printing airplane parts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308265/original/file-20191227-11891-1pjxxpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The NIH in the U.S. has a program to develop bioprinted tissue that’s similar to human tissue to speed up drug screening.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/64860478@N05/42569479372/in/album-72157697098144114/">Paige Derr and Kristy Derr, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In medicine, doctors and researchers use 3D printing for several purposes. It can be used to generate accurate replicas of a patient’s body part. In reconstructive and plastic surgeries, implants can be specifically customized for patients using “biomodels” made possible by <a href="https://www.materialise.com/en/medical/mimics-innovation-suite?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9uT48uyv5gIVRLTtCh2D0Qv9EAAYASAAEgLfcPD_BwE">special software tools</a>. <a href="https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2019/10/10/3d-printing-a-human-heart-valve/">Human heart valves</a>, for instance, are now being 3D printed through <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41747-018-0083-0">several different processes</a> although none have been transplanted into people yet. And there have been significant advances in 3D print methods in areas like <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2015.914">dentistry</a> over the past few years.</p>
<p>Bioprinting’s rapid emergence is built on recent advances in <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6c9b/93aa886acb7ee1b9e16f33f4314988dacfe2.pdf">3D printing techniques</a> to engineer different types of products involving biological components, including <a href="https://www.3dnatives.com/en/future-3d-bioprinting1805201741/">human tissue</a> and, more recently, <a href="https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/mit-3d-printed-cups-deliver-multiple-vaccines-single-shot-121348/">vaccines</a>.</p>
<p>While bioprinting is not entirely a new field because it is derived from general 3D printing principles, it is a novel concept for legal and regulatory purposes. And that is where the field could get tripped up if regulators cannot decide how to approach it.</p>
<h2>State of the art in bioprinting</h2>
<p>Scientists are still far from accomplishing 3D-printed organs because it’s incredibly difficult to connect printed structures to the vascular systems that carry life-sustaining blood and lymph throughout our bodies. But they have been successful in printing nonvascularized tissue like certain types of <a href="https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Bioprinting-Applications.aspx">cartilage</a>. They have also been able to produce <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272884218327780">ceramic</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300571218306407">metal</a> scaffolds that support bone tissue by using different types of bioprintable materials, such as gels and certain nanomaterials. A number of promising animal studies, some involving <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6388753/">cardiac tissue</a>, <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/scientists-use-3d-printing-produce-blood-vessels/">blood vessels</a> and <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/3d-printed-living-skin-blood-vessels-scientists-1469507">skin</a>, suggest that the field is getting closer to its ultimate goal of transplantable organs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GqJYMgAcc0Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers explain ongoing work to make 3d-printed tissue that could one day be transplanted into a human body.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We expect that advancements in bioprinting will increase at a steady pace, even with current technological limitations, potentially improving the lives of many patients. In 2019 alone, several research teams reported a number of breakthroughs. Bioengineers at Rice and Washington Universities, for example, used hydrogels to successfully print the first series of <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6439/458">complex vascular networks</a>. Scientists at Tel Aviv University managed to produce the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.201900344">first 3D-printed heart</a>. It included “<a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/news/printed_heart">cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers</a>” and used cells and biological materials from a human patient. In the United Kingdom, a team from Swansea University developed a <a href="https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/future-of-3d-bioprinting/">bioprinting process</a> to create an artificial bone matrix, using durable, regenerative biomaterial.</p>
<h2>‘Cloneprinting’</h2>
<p>Though the future looks promising from a technical and scientific perspective, current regulations around bioprinting pose some hurdles. From a conceptual point of view, it is hard to determine what bioprinting effectively is. </p>
<p>Consider the case of a 3D-printed heart: Is it best described as an organ or a product? Or should regulators look at it more like a medical device? </p>
<p>Regulators have a number of questions to answer. To begin with, they need to decide whether bioprinting should be regulated under new or existing frameworks, and if the latter, which ones. For instance, should they apply regulations for biologics, a class of complex pharmaceuticals that includes treatments for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, because biologic materials are involved, as is the case with 3D-printed vaccines? Or should there be a regulatory framework for medical devices better suited to the task of customizing 3D-printed products like <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/statement-fda-commissioner-scott-gottlieb-md-fda-ushering-new-era-3d-printing-medical-products">splints for newborns</a> suffering from life-threatening medical conditions? </p>
<p>In Europe and the U.S., scholars and commentators have questioned whether bioprinted materials should enjoy patent protection because of the moral issues they raise. An analogy can be drawn from the famed <a href="https://dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/index.html">Dolly the sheep</a> over <a href="https://theconversation.com/20-years-after-dolly-everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-the-cloned-sheep-and-what-came-next-72655">20 years ago</a>. In <a href="https://www.leagle.com/decision/infco20140508126">this case</a>, it was held by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that cloned sheep cannot be patented because they were identical copies of naturally occurring sheep. This is a clear example of the parallels that exist between cloning and bioprinting. Some people speculate in the future there will be ‘cloneprinting,’ which has the potential for <a href="http://ncjolt.org/to-bioprint-or-not-to-bioprint-2/">reviving extinct species</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/30/will-3d-printing-solve-the-organ-transplant-shortage">solving the organ transplant shortage</a>. </p>
<p>Dolly the sheep’s example illustrates the court’s reluctance to traverse this path. Therefore, if, at some point in the future, bioprinters or indeed cloneprinters can be used to replicate not simply organs but also human beings using cloning technologies, a patent application of this nature could potentially fail, based on the current law. A study funded by the European Commission, led by Bournemouth University and due for completion in early 2020 aims to provide legal guidance on the various intellectual property and regulatory issues surrounding such issues, among others. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if European regulators classify the product of bioprinting as a medical device, there will be at least some degree of <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/medical-devices_en">legal clarity</a>, as a regulatory regime for medical devices has long been in place. In the United States, the FDA has <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/97633/download">issued guidance</a> on 3D-printed medical devices, but not on the specifics of bioprinting. More important, such guidance is not binding and only represents the thinking of a particular agency at a point in time.</p>
<h2>Cloudy regulatory outlook</h2>
<p>Those are not the only uncertainties that are racking the field. Consider the recent progress surrounding 3D-printed organs, particularly the example of a 3D-printed heart. If a functioning 3D-printed heart becomes available, which body of law should apply beyond the realm of FDA regulations? In the United States, should the National Organ Transplant Act, which was written with human organs in mind, apply? Or do we need to amend the law, or even create a separate set of rules for 3D-printed organs? </p>
<p>We have no doubt that 3D printing in general, and bioprinting specifically, will advance rapidly in the coming years. Policymakers should be paying closer attention to the field to ensure that its progress does not outstrip their capacity to safely and effectively regulate it. If they succeed, it could usher in a new era in medicine that could improve the lives of countless patients. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dinusha Mendis has received research funding from the UK Intellectual Property Office, the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the European Commission for exploring issues pertaining to the Intellectual Property implications of 3D printing and bioprinting.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Santos Rutschman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bioprinting, an offshoot of 3D printing, is advancing so rapidly that regulators have been caught off guard. Two legal scholars argue patients and manufacturers would benefit from clearer rules.Dinusha Mendis, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law and Co-Director of the Jean Monet Centre of Excellence for European Intellectual Property and Information Rights, Bournemouth UniversityAna Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280012020-01-01T05:04:46Z2020-01-01T05:04:46ZI spy on real turtles having sex with 3D-printed turtle sex dolls<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306449/original/file-20191211-95111-yo99y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C2774%2C1873&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The northern map turtle is listed as a species at risk in Canada. Little is known about its reproductive behaviour as it spends most of its life underwater. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">G. Bulté</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I am a turtle voyeur. I record the private lives of turtles with hidden cameras and have gone as far as posting online some of the zesty bits. This peculiar penchant is part of my work as a <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/anapsids/testudines/chelonia.html">chelonian behavioural ecologist</a>. </p>
<p>I spy on turtles to document and understand how they make more turtles. This may seem straightforward given the notorious sluggishness of the subjects. How hard can it be to spy on turtles? </p>
<p>It’s harder than it sounds, but also much more exciting. And thanks to affordable gadgets such as action cameras and 3D printers, it is getting easier — and more fun. </p>
<h2>Turtle preoccupations</h2>
<p>In documentaries and popular media, turtles are often shown doing one of two things: lazily basking away summer days on a log or heart wrenchingly dodging cars to reach a safe place to bury their eggs. These noticeable behaviours are crucial to the baby-making business of turtles and we know a fair bit about both. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306249/original/file-20191211-95120-ca0n6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Contrary to what popular nature documentaries can portray, turtles spend most of their lives underwater.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G. Bulté</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What we know less about are the intricacies of mating and courtship: what happens below the murky surface of lakes, rivers, ponds, swamps, marshes and other watery environments.</p>
<p>Cheap, submersible action cameras are changing the game. Animal ecologists have embraced these toys because <a href="https://fisheries.org/2015/11/action-cameras-bringing-aquatic-and-fisheries-research-into-view/">they allow them to take prolonged peeks below the surface while minimally disturbing their favourite study subjects</a>. </p>
<p>Three-dimensional printing is also opening <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-018-0190-z">exciting avenues for the study of animal behaviour in the field</a>. We are now able to inexpensively and rapidly produce anatomically accurate animal decoys.</p>
<h2>Watching northern map turtles</h2>
<p>We adopted these emerging tools to shed some light on the mating habits of the <a href="https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=712">northern map turtle</a>: a federally listed <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-enforcement/acts-regulations/about-species-at-risk-act.html">species at risk</a> in Canada.</p>
<p>Most striking about map turtles is the huge difference in size between males and females. A large adult female can exceed 3,000 grams. A hunky male, on the other hand, will be lucky to tip the scale at 350 grams. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306208/original/file-20191210-95135-1th374i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two adult northern map turtles from Ontario showing the extreme size difference between males and females. The male is the smaller one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(G. Bulté)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This asymmetry of size is the outcome of two facts. First, male map turtles don’t fight with one another, the key behaviour driving male burliness in animals. With many animals, when two males simultaneously encounter a receptive female, things get ugly if not lethally bloody. The bigger male typically comes out on top and passes his large male genes to the next generation. Not so in map turtles. The diminutive males can’t be bothered by same sex rivals. </p>
<p>The second fact is the correlation between a mom’s size and the size of her offspring. Large moms lay large eggs. Large eggs hatch large babies. Large babies have better odds of making it through the first few days of life than small ones. Natural selection has thus favoured large size in females. </p>
<h2>Mate choice</h2>
<p>Whether males were aware of this was something we set to find out with action cams and 3D-printed turtle sex dolls of various sizes. Our prediction was straightforward. If a typical male encounters many females of varying sizes, which happens because of the unusual overwintering habits of this species, and cannot possibly mate with all of them, he should prefer to mate with the larger ones. </p>
<p>Every fall, map turtles gather at specific spots of lakes and rivers where they spend their winter days quietly sitting at the bottom. These overwintering grounds also serve as mating grounds. Turtles mate when they arrive at these communal sites in the fall and afterwards, they take a five-month long winter snooze (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdgeJ2b_U1k">it looks like this</a>). </p>
<p>When spring finally arrives, they mate again before taking off for the summer. Hundreds of turtles can use these communal grounds, making it inconceivable for any male to mate with all the females present. For a brief period, we have a bunch of libidinous turtles concentrated in one spot. This is a dream come true for a chelonian behavioural ecologist like myself. </p>
<p>To test our prediction, we 3D-printed decoys of female map turtles and placed them in pairs at two of these special meeting spots. The decoys were identical in every respect except for their size. One was about the size of an average female, and the second was slightly smaller than the largest female on record for our study population. </p>
<p>The incongruous pair was mounted on a rig fitted with an action camera. The whole assembly was dropped at bottom of the lake early in the morning and recovered at the end of the day. This was repeated for nine days with two pairs of decoys. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306228/original/file-20191211-95153-1hp507d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 3D-printed decoy used to study the mating habits of northern map turtles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(S. Dobson)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Big findings</h2>
<p>The response of wild males was clear: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.02.018">they preferred the larger female</a>. The large decoys received nearly twice the number of male visits and five times more mating attempts than the smaller ones. </p>
<p>The video below shows what a mating attempt looks like — this video is played at eight times the speed, and with musical accompaniment. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MagFMhLjelw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A captured mating attempt of a male northern map turtle on a female decoy.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Changing the turtle-watching game</h2>
<p>Action cameras offer a window into the private, underwater lives of animals. With these devices and other technologies like 3D scanners and printers, we are able to not only test hypotheses and predictions, but we can also simply observe what animals do. </p>
<p>As we were sifting through videos from our experiments, we witnessed a number of phenomena we did not know were possible, including a female map turtle seemingly squeaking at a female decoy and <a href="https://youtu.be/IPFvrFvt35E">a loon attacking a male decoy</a>. These may just be anecdotes for now, but perhaps there is more to them. </p>
<p>The ubiquity and affordability of action cameras will surely yield many insightful observations about aquatic animals including turtles. Some may influence how we think about animal behaviour, others may just be intriguing tidbits of a world largely unexplored.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grégory Bulté does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New technologies are revealing more about the secret lives of underwater turtles. Using underwater cameras and 3D printing, researchers are learning more than ever before.Grégory Bulté, Instructor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1254282019-12-11T13:17:46Z2019-12-11T13:17:46Z‘Robotic blacksmithing’: A technology that could revive US manufacturing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305965/original/file-20191209-90597-1gauksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Robots already assemble and weld products in factories. Can they make the components parts themselves, too?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/automate-industrial-robots-welding-automotive-part-593179760">Factory_Easy/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although it may not be obvious, there’s a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9uveu-c5us">“machines that build the machines”</a> as being the real enabler in both his space and automotive businesses.</p>
<p>Using less-expensive, more scalable processes allows Space X to launch missions on budgets and with speed that would be unthinkable using NASA’s old-school manufacturing methods. And the new <a href="https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-engineering-manufacturing/">Tesla Cybertruck’s unorthodox design</a> appears to take advantage of a <a href="https://electrek.co/2019/11/24/teslas-cybertruck-looks-weird-because-otherwise-it-would-break-the-machines-to-make-it/">simplified manufacturing process</a> that does away with “<a href="https://www.thefabricator.com/thefabricator/article/stamping/die-basics-101-intro-to-stamping">die stamping</a>” metal in favor of bending and folding metal sheets.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305680/original/file-20191206-90609-163jsvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tesla has invested heavily in manufacturing as a way to build products faster and more efficiently. The design of newly unveiled Cybertruck is driven in part by Tesla’s production plans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck">Tesla Motors</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now a new manufacturing method dubbed “<a href="https://www.tms.org/portal/PUBLICATIONS/Studies/Metamorphic_Manufacturing/portal/Publications/Studies/MetamorphicManufacturing/MetamorphicManufacturing.aspx?hkey=35f836be-083d-470a-8cc9-df1b47bf3fee">robotic blacksmithing</a>” has the potential to revolutionize the way high-quality structural parts are made, resulting in a new class of customized and optimized products. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KzTuzhkAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> am part of a loose coalition of engineers developing this process, a technique I believe can help revive U.S. manufacturing.</p>
<h2>Today’s technologies</h2>
<p>Metal parts are used in all kinds of high-performance and safety-critical applications in transportation, mining, construction and power-generation equipment such as turbine engines. Most are made using one of a small number of classical manufacturing processes that haven’t changed much in decades.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/custom-manufacturing-fabricating/types-machining/">Machining</a> cuts away raw material to get a desired shape; <a href="https://www.rfsystemlab.us/glossary/metal-casting/">casting</a> involves pouring molten metal into a mold; and <a href="https://thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/forming_basics.html">forming or forging</a> deforms and squeezes metal into new shapes. Casting and forging to shape usually needs custom molds or dies that can take considerable time and expense to design and manufacture, but once running are very productive; parts are inexpensive with highly reproducible properties. This is why nuts and bolts can be cheap and reliable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305458/original/file-20191205-39014-jm00ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional metal manufacturing techniques.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glenn S. Daehn</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Starting shortly after World War II, digital manufacturing ushered in more agile production, first with computer numeric control machining that cuts components of all kinds of shapes from metal blocks. Producing a different component was as simple as launching a new computer program. One common downside of computer numeric control machining is a low “fly-to-buy” ratio, where a 1,000-pound titanium block might be carved away to produce a 100-pound aerospace component. This is expensive and environmentally wasteful, but no new investment is needed and lead times are short.</p>
<p>Right now, there is also deserved enthusiasm about making such parts by <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-3-d-printing-revolution">3D printing</a>, also referred to as additive manufacturing. This process also makes parts from a computer file on demand by building a part one layer at a time. Shapes that are impossible to make by machining can be printed, allowing new shapes that, for instance, have internal passages for cooling or communication.</p>
<p>While these techniques have their advantages, they also have drawbacks. They often don’t produce the highest levels of strength or toughness and these processes are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jiec.12664">wasteful</a>.</p>
<h2>Robots plus blacksmithing</h2>
<p>Metal implements made by blacksmiths oftentimes have <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/09/29/031177.html?pageNumber=41">legendary strength</a> because the working of the metal, like kneading of dough, makes its structure finer, more homogeneous. As the material is shaped, it develops directional strength, much like wood is stronger along the direction of its grain. However, no human blacksmith can deal with parts the size of aircraft landing gear or have the reproducibility and stamina to make the parts needed for our economy.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QflVRXLwsAw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A proof-of-concept demonstration of a robotic device forming a raw material by closely controlling deformation of the material and position of the machine.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea of robotic blacksmithing is to extend the blacksmith’s art with new digital capabilities. Parts are shaped by repeatedly and incrementally forming a piece of metal which is precisely positioned into a press. This powered press or hammer system will interchange tools depending on the shape needed.</p>
<p>By automating the process of shaping a part, but using the basic approach of a blacksmith, a machine can treat larger parts and be more efficient and reproducible than a human ever could.</p>
<p>This new approach has the potential to efficiently and consistently make the structural ‘bones’ inside aircraft, ships, submarines and locomotives. Or the concept could be scaled down to make small individualized medical implants. </p>
<h2>Where will technology take hold?</h2>
<p>The basic concept for robotic blacksmithing, formally called metamorphic manufacturing, was demonstrated in 2017 when a <a href="https://honeybadgerosu.wordpress.com">team of undergraduates from The Ohio State University</a> added hardware and software to a conventional computer numeric control milling machine to adapt it for controlled deformation. The work was in response to a US$25,000 challenge by the government-funded consortium <a href="https://lift.technology/">LIFT</a> (Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow) to demonstrate the key concepts of digitally controlled deformation-based shaping.</p>
<p>But that was just a start. Today, much research and development remains before we have autonomous machines shaping metal into unique safety-critical items.</p>
<p>Fully developing the robot blacksmith requires a synthesis of technologies. The system must be able to know the shape, temperature and condition of the material at each location of the part being formed. Then it must be able to control the temperature to produce the right structure and properties. The press must squeeze the component where needed with robotic control, deforming the part bit by bit. And, a computer must make decisions on how to move and strike the part next in order to optimize shape and properties, often learning from how previous parts were made.</p>
<p>All of these base technologies are progressing rapidly, and there is no reason they cannot be quickly melded together as a useful and practical manufacturing technology, <a href="http://tms.org/metamorphicmanufacturing">as a recent roadmapping study has shown</a>.</p>
<p>History shows that when diverse groups come together to form a new industry, the birthplace of that innovation (turning the idea into businesses) <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/innovation-should-be-made-in-the-u-s-a-11573833987">reaps the long-term benefits</a>. Detroit with automobiles and Silicon Valley with computers are obvious examples but there’s also glass manufacturing in Toledo, polymer engineering in Akron and medical device engineering in Minneapolis. The more recent examples of thriving technical clusters are often outside the U.S., with personal electronics manufacturing centered around Shenzhen, China, and advanced semiconductor devices in Singapore. The early clusters were serendipitous. The later ones are usually the result of deliberate and smart policy decisions.</p>
<p>There are already <a href="https://marianamazzucato.com/entrepreneurial-state/">many examples of great technology that is born in the United States, then manufactured elsewhere</a>. For example, many of the core technologies in smartphones were developed in labs in the U.S. but production is now spread across the world. The next wave of innovation will likely be located where skills are deep due from staffing and improving current factories. Robotic blacksmithing provides an <a href="http://mforesight.org/download/7817/">opportunity for the United States to be the leader</a> if it wants to. The core in keeping this virtuous cycle going in any location is in developing the factories, or the machines that build the machines.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125428/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn S. Daehn's research group receives funding from Federal (National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and LIFT Manufacturing USA Institute), State of Ohio (Ohio Development Services Agency) and Industry (Ford, Honda), but none of that funding is directly relevant to the ideas presented here. </span></em></p>A manufacturing engineer describes the concept for a technology that could lead to more efficient production – and perhaps a tool to revive US manufacturing.Glenn S. Daehn, Fontana Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1264492019-12-03T10:57:24Z2019-12-03T10:57:24Z3D printing is helping museums in repatriation and decolonisation efforts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304908/original/file-20191203-67023-oxqj8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tenerife-spain-february-8-2019-tourist-1366182653">David Herraez Calzada / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Manchester Museum recently <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-50504511">returned items</a> taken from Australia more than 100 years ago to Aboriginal leaders, the latest move in an <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-looted-artefacts-will-finally-restore-heritage-to-the-brilliant-cultures-that-made-them-107479">ongoing debate</a> over calls to “repatriate” museum artefacts to their countries of origin.</p>
<p>It’s part of a wider discussion over to what degree museums need to reform and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonise-science-time-to-end-another-imperial-era-89189">decolonise</a>” away from displaying collections that were gathered or stolen from other countries during the colonial era, in a way that portrays foreign cultures as strange or inferior and other nations as unsuitable possessors of the world’s cultural heritage and knowledge. Major institutions including the <a href="https://theconversation.com/britain-has-kept-the-elgin-marbles-for-200-years-now-its-time-to-pass-them-on-55912">British Museum</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jun/29/should-museums-return-their-colonial-artefacts">Victoria & Albert Museum</a> have been caught up in the debate.</p>
<p>One way forward may be found in digital technologies that can enable people to access representations of other cultures in fair, interesting ways, without cultural institutions needing to hold on to controversial artefacts. For example, with 3D imaging and 3D printing we can produce <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-3d-printing-is-transforming-our-relationship-with-cultural-heritage-112642">digital and physical copies of artefacts</a>, allowing visitors to study and interact with them more closely than ever before.</p>
<h2>Copying artefacts</h2>
<p>Copying artefacts has a surprisingly long history. Many ancient Greek statues that we have today are actually <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rogr/hd_rogr.htm">Roman copies</a> made hundreds of years after the originals. Famous Renaissance artists’ workshops regularly <a href="http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-3/essays/training-and-practice/">produced copies</a> of artwork. In the 19th century, museums produced copies through processes that involved making a mould of the original item, such as casting and <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/glossary-of-art-terms/electrotyping">electrotyping</a>. The famous <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-flat-pack-a-dinosaur-70966">diplodocus skeleton “Dippy”</a> actually exists as a number of copies in museums all over the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301285/original/file-20191112-178511-g0oqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Copy of Myron’s Discobolus at the Vatican Museums in Rome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">By Leomudde - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, digital technology has democratised the art of copying so it isn’t limited to big museums with generous budgets or top experts with specialist knowledge. Accessible digitisation technologies, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/photogrammetry">photogrammetry</a> and 3D scanning, can digitally record the shape of objects to a good degree of accuracy. And 3D printing and cutting machines can physically reproduce this digital information at an affordable cost.</p>
<p>3D copies can be touched and handled by visitors and can also be customised in shape, material and size. What’s more, digital files of artefacts can be shared online and replicas can be printed in other parts of the world. And most importantly, physically printing a copy from a digital image doesn’t depend on whether the original artefact still exists or not.</p>
<p>Some governments and institutions have supported the creation of copies by adopting these technologies. These include, just to name a few, the prehistoric cave engravings in <a href="https://www.lascaux.fr/en/prepare-your-visit/visit-lascaux/international-centre-for-cave-art#ancre-carousel">Lascaux IV</a> in France, Jackson Pollock’s 3D poured painting <a href="http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/alchemy/">Alchemy</a>, and the 900-year-old <a href="http://www.factum-arte.com/bronzeoak">Signing Oak Tree</a> from Windsor Great Park near London.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cUV8sqcnpcM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Democratising and repatriating heritage</h2>
<p>Once the digital information from an artefact is produced and shared, the knowledge the artefact represents is no longer locked up in a single museum and can potentially be accessed by many more people. Sceptics might argue that the value of the artefact cannot be reproduced by these means. But 3D technologies open up the possibility for democratising cultural heritage and creating alternative meanings by different groups of people.</p>
<p>3D technologies can also support museums to adapt to changing social, political, financial, environmental and other challenges. For instance, creating physical copies allows museums to repatriate artefacts to their communities of origin, or to display objects without having to transport them across the world. It can also be a starting point for talking to different communities about repatriation and decolonisation. All these actions can support museums through their transformation from colonial institutions to more modern and open organisations, helping them to become less bound to “original” artefacts. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P7MndvEcUcQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Repatriation and Replication of the Tlingit Killer Whale Hat.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the US has worked closely with the Tlingit native community of southeast Alaska, which requested the repatriation of several objects that were sacred to them. One of the most important objects was the <a href="https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/mar/article/view/2173">Killer Whale clan crest hat</a>, which the museum digitised and made an accurate replica of, before returning the original to the community.</p>
<p>3D copies have even been deployed in repatriation activism without the official involvement of museums or their approval. For the project <a href="http://nefertitihack.alloversky.com/">Nefertiti Hack</a>, artists Nora Al-Badri and Jan Nikolai Nelles claimed that they secretly scanned the bust of Egyptian queen Nefertiti, held by the Neues Museum in Berlin, and freely released the 3D data online. A 3D replica of Nefertiti’s bust was also 3D printed and exhibited in Cairo. The artists argued their intention was to return Nefertiti to her homeland and criticised the colonialist practices of Western museums.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/148156899" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Museumshack – artists secretly scanning at the Neues Museum.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>The repatriation debate is forcing museums to rethink what and who they are for and how they can best serve society.</p>
<p>Some museums have taken decisions to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/norway-will-repatriate-thousands-artifacts-taken-easter-island-180971846/">return artefacts to their homeland</a>, others to organise <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australia-exhibition-at-the-british-museum-is-insider-activism-at-its-best-39098">exhibitions</a> dedicated to indigenous voices. Yet, in most cases, these efforts are scattered, or one-off events still infused with colonialist spirit. A more concerted effort to use 3D copying technologies could help overcome this. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301539/original/file-20191113-77300-2yeb1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">3D printed copy of Pot Oiseau produced for research at the University of Brighton. The original edition of Pot Oiseau by Pablo Picasso is exhibited at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some might argue that original artefacts have an “aura” that is impossible to recreate, and that looking at a copy just isn’t the same. But simply visiting a museum or a cultural heritage site is an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02672571003780106">authentic experience</a> in its own way. And this doesn’t always have to depend on seeing <a href="http://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/gch20191357">“original”</a> objects, as long as the museum is honest about its exhibitions and purposes. In future, museums will focus more on the experience of cultural heritage, while promoting universal values, regardless of where the artefacts are.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New technology means museums can return items to their countries of origin while still representing those cultures in fair, interesting ways.Myrsini Samaroudi, PhD Candidate, University of BrightonKarina Rodriguez Echavarria, Principal Lecturer, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.