3D Life Makes High-Quality 3D Printed Medical Models So Doctors Can Save Lives.

3D Life is certainly aptly named. This Greek startup isn’t promoting a fun new lifestyle or arts and crafts in the 3D printing industry—they are involved in the serious business of helping to save lives. Recognizing the value that 3D printing has in the medical arena, the team at 3D Life is committed to making 3D printed models for medical professionals to use, with numerous benefits for all involved. Currently, the Athens-headquartered company makes high-quality, detailed models of the anatomy like teeth, hands, and bones, as well as organs like the heart, liver, brain, and more. 3D Life is encouraging the more comprehensive study of anatomy, mainly in terms of organs. They believe that even better knowledge of organs allows for better preparation for surgeries that are often solving complex physical issues—and the team uses congenital heart disease as a perfect example. “As a result, the doctors can better plan reparative operations based on conventional medical imaging which is suboptimal,” Bilalis told 3DPrint.com. “The human mind can only partially understand trying to create mental images of three dimensional structures so we believe that having this ability will make operations shorter and more efficient, and provide better results.” At 3D Life they believe, and undoubtedly are correct, that the exercise of holding and manipulating a 3D model leads to a better understanding of the client’s condition, as well as allowing for practicing for surgeries that are intricate and may not even have been performed before. This leads to numerous positives, from safety to better client outcomes, along with providing training for students. While there may be other companies around the world making 3D models, 3D Life is unique as the first company to endeavor in such a field in Greece. Offering advanced 3D printing, they are able to make models in a variety of materials and, even better, multiple colors. They are able to offer excellent services to all the professionals who come to them. 3D Life uses Materialise Mimics software, made specifically for medical image processions. This enables the conversion of MRIs or CTs into 3D models, which can then be used in numerous ways. These devices avail, medical professionals and surgeons to find themselves with a much better way to educate patients and their families about medical conditions, handle diagnoses and treatments, and explain procedures. Surgeons can then spend a lot of time themselves with those medical models, considering and practicing for upcoming operations—as well as using the models in the operating room to navigate through surgeries, saving time and allowing for better outcomes with less surprises. In some cases around the world, 3D libraries are being made as these models begin to pile up, and can be of use to other medical personnel. Contributed by 3D Print

CLAW LESIONS AND POOR REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IN SOW.

A research institute at the Leipzig University, Germany captures all pig movement on camera to follow and analyse every step ,It is interesting to understand how pig claws interact with hard surfaces technically unknown to them. Sows in modern intensive housing environments face substantial threats from claw lesions. The risk of the claw developing a painful and ultimately devastating lesion is based on its interaction with the flooring surface, overcrowded conditions and aggressive social behavior. The majority of claw lesions have a strong bio-mechanical component in their development . The Mechanical impact is either the direct /primary cause of lesions or promotes the progression of a lesion caused primarily by other factors such as metabolic disorders, mineral deficiencies/imbalances or local inflammation. The most critical factors contributing to the development of claw lesions in swine operations today are hard flooring systems. The pig's foot is anatomically designed for a soft, variable, uneven surface where weight bearing by the two main claws is significantly supported by weight bearing of the two dew claws. When the pig is placed on concrete, the mechanics of the foot and how it interacts with the flooring surface is changed totally. The result is increased production of horn of inferior quality, disruption of normal horn formation or mechanical damage to the tissue and subsequent inflammation. Once a sow experiences lameness and pain due to a claw lesion, her performance including her reproductive potential is severely compromised and she may be removed from the herd. Research studies show that genetic improvement and management techniques, swine producers have the opportunity to reduce, and even prevent, the painful claw lesions that decrease not only productivity of sows but also their well-being. Materials from;Christoph Mülling Professor of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Germany.