3-D Printing: The Future of Medical Technology

The world of medicine is constantly evolving and adapting to meet the demands of the modern world. As the world around us changes, so do the problems presented before us. Nevertheless, technological advances allow for those problems to not only be addressed, but also resolved. The growth of technology has allowed us to solve some of the dire problems in the modern world. Technology can revolutionize virtually any industry. No industry benefits greater from technological advancements than the medical industry. Advancements in medical technology are not only saving lives, but also prolonging lives and solving complex problems that are nothing short of science fiction.

The growth of medical technology over the past decade has been monumental, and has paved the road for a prosperous future of human health. From understanding and developing vaccines for globally threatening viruses, to manipulating stem cells to grow functional human organs, technology has ushered medicine into a new era. Despite the leaps and bounds of medical technology over the past decade, a relatively new technology finds itself on the cusp of greatness. This technology is three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing.

Manufacturing Made Easy 

Imagine a world where the ability to produce a good was as simple as printing a document from the computer. This concept sounds closer to something found in a futuristic science fiction novel, but it’s quickly becoming a tangible reality. Three-dimensional printing is the process of constructing a solid, three-dimensional object through the layering of materials. The process begins with a design that is uploaded to a computer. Next, the production ingredient is chosen and the design is sent to the 3D printer. The end product is a functional, three dimensional object with limitless possibilities.

http://www.popular3dprinters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/3d-printing-how-it-works.jpg 


Medical Technology and 3D Printing 

Three-dimensional printing will not only change the world of manufacturing, but will also allow for immense growth of medical technology. This growth is exactly that—growth. 3-D printing has the potential to one-day print functional human organs. This process—known as bioprinting—works by harvesting human cells from stem cells. Scientists then allow the harvested cells to proliferate in a petri dish. The outcome of this process is a mixture that can be fed into a 3-D printer programmed to combine raw materials and different cell types into a solid three-dimensional object.

The concept of growing human organs in a laboratory may appear controversial to some, but for many scientists the idea of bioprinting is both enthralling and promising. Genuine printed human organs would have several useful applications, for example, vaccine testing. Not only would testing vaccines on printed organs provide researchers with more accurate data, it would also prevent less reliable and inhumane testing methods.

Bioprinting is still in the development process. The Methuselah Foundation, however, has accelerated the process. The Virginia based foundation supports the new regenerative medicine research and announced it would award a $1 million prize to the first organization to print a fully functioning liver.

 

Ethical Dilemmas of Bioprinting 

While scientists champion the idea of bioprinting, some are more hesitant toward the fledgling technology. One fear is that the technology will advance faster than the understanding, including the ramifications, of the technology. Despite the well-intended nature of bioprinting, the technology presents several dangers. One danger is controlling who has the ability to produce human organs. Organ trading already exists within global black markets, and without strict regulation the ability to grow complex organs could be jeopardized. A second stumbling block is the price. Health care spending in the United States is greater than anywhere else on the planet, and the cost of bioprinting may put the revolutionary technology out of reach for most.

A Work in Progress 

3-D printing is still very much a work in progress. The concept is there, but it may be several years unil bioprinting becomes a reality. In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would ultimately determine implementing 3-D printed organs in a surgical procedure—a review process that could take nearly a decade alone. For now, scientists are focused on developing the technology, and the first step will be printing strips of tissue that can be utilized to repair damaged organs. As technology continues to revolutionize the world we live in, the darkness ahead of us is becoming more and more illuminated.

Medical Supplies for the Masses

Medical technology has come a long, long, way since the invention of the stethoscope about 200 years ago. No more do people die from such simple conditions as the common cold, the measles, or even polio. And why is that? Geniuses flexed their genius, in basic terms, and created medical equipment and antidotes that birthed businesses ready to supply said equipment to the masses, in order to keep hospitals and other practices running smoothly. Now a days, such companies thrive in an ever-growing market characterized by a need for surgical materials in order to alleviate any kind of ailment or accident.

So Many Options 

Among the many medical supply companies, there is one that stands out from Freehold, New Jersey called MPM Medical supply. They carry a wide array of products for any kind of major or minor surgical procedure. These procedures vary from sterilizations, to CT scans, to bone marrow aspirates, to X-rays, to prostate biopsies.

• OB/GYN Equipment: This includes such instruments as dilators, forceps, hooks, insertion kits, loop electrodes, pipelle, suction tubes, scissors, and the like. MPM prides themselves on using German Stainless Steel products that carry a 100% lifetime guarantee. These products can be used for such procedures as hysterectomies, colposcopies, LEEP procedures, sterilizations, pregnancies, menstrual disorders, etc.

• Mammography Equipment: This includes such instruments as biopsy needles, biopsy trays, breast tissue markers, disposable instrument packs, radiation eyewear, and sharps safe trays. They supply only the best products from such companies as Kopans, Mammalok, Hydromark, and UltraCLIP that are also 100% lifetime guaranteed German Stainless Steel.

• Hematology Oncology Equipment: This includes such instruments as bone marrow biopsy needles, bone marrow procedure trays, and bone marrow aspiration needles. All of these tools are disposable and can be expected at a high quality for a wholesale price. These products are used to perform bone marrow aspirates, where bone marrow is removed to test for anemia, bone marrow biopsies, where bone marrow tissue is removed and tested, and bone marrow transplants, where healthy marrow is transplanted in place of unhealthy marrow that can also heal hereditary blood diseases.

• Radiology Equipment: This includes such products as amniocentesis trays, arthrogram trays, disposable instrument trays, endometrial suction curettes, drainage bags, pacing cables, radiation eyewear, and vascular access needles. One can use these supplies for such procedures as breast and cardiac imaging, MRI, molecular imaging, PET, ultrasound, and X-ray.

• Radiation Oncology Equipment: This includes such products as disposable templates, prostate seeding sets, and sterile pre-cut spacers. They carry a large supply of 100% lifetime guaranteed German Stainless Steel goods from companies such as Mick, that provide disposable and non-disposable sets.

• Urology Equipment: This includes such instruments as biopsy needles, biopsy trays, Chiba/Franseen/Westcott needles, drainage bags/decanters, radiation eyewear, and radiation reducing gloves. They are all high quality products sold at wholesale prices. Said instruments can be used for such procedures as bladder slings, kidney CT scans, prostate biopsies, lithotripsies, and many physical therapy exercises.

 

The Purpose 

MPM Medical supply is dedicated to providing the best quality products at wholesale prices, always. They understand that physicians need to maintain costs without sacrificing the high quality care that they are known for, especially in a time when economic struggles are all too real for everyone. They offer a large range of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and OB/GYN equipment for any kind of medical equipment. And any hospital or private practice can count on the fact that all of the products are manufactured and tested in the United States.

The fact of the matter is: there are a large number of doctors and practicing physicians that need to order medical equipment at any time of the day from the comfort of their own computer. It’s basically a necessity in today’s modern, constantly “plugged in” culture to order basic products from the Internet. But not many know that the need for medical equipment, from online distributers such as MPM Medical Supply, is in even higher demand. With the higher demand for less invasive materials for minimally damaging procedures MPM Medical Supply is a step ahead and with over two million jobs being created by the medical technology field, there’s no doubt that this market will continue growing.

A Brief History of Surgery and Surgical Instruments

Long before there were humans, there was illness and injury, and long after we’re gone, illness and injury will persist wherever there is life. Yet archaeological evidence has shown that we have combatted these ills as best we could, given the knowledge we had, for millennia. As far back as the Stone Age, surgical procedures were performed in order to alleviate pain and illness. You might be surprised by how long our earliest medical practices persisted before science transformed the way medicine is practiced today.

Yet as medicine and surgery has evolved, one thing has remained common: proper surgery, the kind that helps and heals, cannot be performed without the right tools. A good surgeon is important, of course, but without the right tools for the job a surgeon can actually cause more harm than good – as has happened again and again throughout history, until recent advancements in surgical techniques. Of course, by ‘recent’ we mean developments in the last 150 years. None of those discoveries in surgical technique could have been possible without the earliest surgeons working to heal others, however.

Ancient Surgery: I Need Surgery Like a Hole in the Head

As far back as the Stone Age, our ancestors practiced trepanation. Trepanation is the practice of cutting open a hole in the skull in order to alleviate pressure on the brain. Blood and/or swelling in the brain can cause massive amounts of pain and even serious and lasting injury. This kind of swelling could be the result of any number of injuries or illnesses, but it is most often a blow to the head that would cause the need for trepanation. Surprisingly, evidence – i.e., the unearthed bodies of ancient man – has shown that some people even survived this procedure, as the bone grew back over the hole in the skull.

The Egyptians displayed detailed knowledge of human anatomy and surgical techniques for the time. You are probably familiar with the mummified remains their civilization left behind; in order to embalm those bodies, principal organs were removed and preserved using embalming tools, such as a three-inch stick used to remove the brain. Probes, saws, forceps, scalpels, and surgical scissors also saw use in the embalming process, as well as in normal surgical procedures.

That’s right, the Egyptians also had some knowledge of how to treat the human body before it died – revolutionary! Clamps, sutures, and cauterization techniques were commonly used, as was honey and willow bark – natural antiseptics. Similarly, the ancient Greeks used wine to bathe wounds, as the alcohol acted to prevent infection.

While the dissection of human bodies was outlawed in ancient Rome, there were nevertheless several surgical instruments developed that continue to be used today, such as the vaginal speculum, which Greek and Roman gynecologists and obstetricians used to diagnose and treat vaginal and uterine disorders. There are records of rectal speculums used in ancient Rome as well, with Hippocrates writing of “… laying the patient on his back and examining the ulcerated part of the bowel by means of the rectal speculum.”

Medieval Surgery: Just How It Sounds

While much of the middle ages saw basic surgery performed by barber-surgeons, who also acted as dentists, the 16^th century saw a revolution in surgery as knowledge of anatomy became more advanced, specifically with the publishing of The Fabric of the Human body in 1543 by Andreas Vesalius. With humanity’s improved knowledge of anatomy, surgical techniques advanced considerably.

Subsequently, the development of substantively functional surgical tools became paramount. A flurry of surgical inventions were invented in the following centuries, such as development of sutures and ligatures to stop bleeding, as developed by Ambroise Paré. The discovery of microbes as responsible for infection and disease by Louis Pasteur also led to more sanitary surgical practices throughout the medical world as doctors were encouraged to wash their hands between patients.

Modern Surgery: Oldies But Goodies

Subsequently, Joseph Lister (after whom Listerine is named!) developed carbolic acid as a cleansing and disinfecting agent used to reduce infection by treating instruments and other objects that make contact with the patient. Ernst von Bergmann’s steam sterilization for instruments was a later improvement on this revolution in surgical cleanliness. In the 19^th century, methods of anesthesia were developed – such as the discovery of ether – which have helped patients around the world. Meanwhile, surgical instruments themselves continued to evolve, with the advent of more delicate and precise tools like the needle holder.

Today, surgical tools are incredibly advanced, with a range of computerized and robotic tools aiding the surgeon. However, some of the oldest tools at the surgeon’s disposal – the scalpel, the forceps, and so on – continue to be used by surgeons today. As surgical technology continues to evolve and advance, there’s no telling what changes we will see, but one thing is for certain: none of these advances were possible without ancient surgeons laying the groundwork, making mistakes, learning, passing on their expertise to others, and developing new tools to help them solve the surgical problems of their time.