3D Printer Shows the Future of Health Care

For two weeks, Dr. Clint LeClair of River City Labs (http://rivercitylabs.org/) has been a guest teacher for Maegan Gilliland's HS200 PL02 and PL03 classes. During these classes, students are learning about 3D printer types, materials, applications in healthcare, designing models using 3D printing software, and learning how to contribute to and access 3D printing open access databases. After searching medical databases for information on arterial lesions, this hands-on experience will culminate in the final class period when the lesions will be printed out, inserted into a full-scale model of the human heart, and will be available to use by upper-class medical students for practice purposes. Students will be writing a final paper on the applications of 3D printing in the medical field. Finally, all students are invited to participate in the design and printing of a prosthetic arm for a local Peoria woman at the River City Lab's "Maker's Space" (located in Peoria).

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