Our 3D printing company in Seattle is always pleased to see 3D printing technology put to good use, and medical advances are some of the best. One of the latest advances in this field is currently being realized in Washington University in St. Louis, where a team of engineering students is working out a system that could serve to predict and treat heart attacks long before an at-risk patient shows any symptoms.
Through the use of a simple 3D printer, the team has created a small device that is implanted into a patient to monitor cardiac activity. This device is made out of flexible silicon material that is specially printed to fit the particular shape in the center of an individual’s heart. This is a revolution over similar devices used in the past, which were not able to be built according to the idiosyncratic nature of people’s hearts.
The goal is that the device will be able to sense troponin, a substance which is known to indicate an approaching heart attack. By making use of this technology, it is hoped that we will better be able to address heart attack risks before the heart attack actually happens.
