Friday, April 2, 2010

Bioprinting and Micro Manufacturing

Later this year, Organovo will begin selling ink-jet organ printers. These devices will literally print out organic compounds to create organs for research and transplantation. Imagine going to the hospital for a heart transplant that was printed -- using your DNA to eliminate organ rejection.

I guess that means I can cancel my organ donor card. I could never shake the irrational fear that EMT's wouldn't save me because they were waiting for my  death to collect spare parts!

But this is only part of a much larger manufacturing revolution. Small scale biological and machine part manufacturing will become the norm.

Right now, desktop manufacturing is real. Today for a few thousand dollars you can buy a 3D printer that will layer plastic composite materials and slowly create your desired shapes. I've seen everything from chess pieces to complex gears printed in a matter of hours.

Because of the costs involved, these printers are currently used only for rapid prototyping of new designs. However, because of the technology adoption curve of it is reasonable to assume that within a decade 3D printers will replace most small scale manufacturing.

Imagine a world where you don't have to wait for the car repair shop to order replacement parts, instead they just print them on-site from the 3D templates provided by the manufacturer. Imagine being able to print replacements for everyday household items when they break. Consider the impact on everything and you suddenly start seeing a world where Star Trek replicators aren't fiction anymore.

This future is coming. Nothing can stop it. How will desktop manufacturing impact your business? Are you ready?

Louis Rosas-Guyon's FREE 5-week e-Course for Eliminating Tech CostsR-Squared Computing - Business Technology Experts
If you liked this article, please share it,
subscribe to my RSS feed or join the email list.
Thank you!

3 comments:

  1. The fact that micro manufacturing is a precursor to bioprinting is a crazy thought. It is truly amazing what these 3D printers have the capabilities of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And those capabilities will only increase. Every month new materials become available for micro manufacturing. Because the hobbyists are now innovating with this technology, we should see rapid improvements. The future is now!

      Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete