Cyclist with 'devastating injuries' one of the first patients to receive 3D-printed face repair — new features made with PEEK printer

3D printing has plenty of fun use cases and just as many practical ones, but it's projects like this that remind us how imperative technology like this is as a whole to mankind. According to the BBC, Dave Richards became the first patient at the Bristol 3D Medical Centre in the UK after encountering a terrible accident while riding a bicycle, receiving a new 3D printed face in the process.

The Bristol 3D Medical Centre is among the first, and is possibly the first, facility in the UK to incorporate both 3D imaging and 3D printing into one location. Here, patients can receive care in the form of critical 3D scans of their body or, like in Richards' case, they can be fitted for custom prosthetics.

Richards was riding his bicycle with some friends when he was struck by a drunk driver. This accident ultimately caused Richards to lose part of his face. While Richards confirms this doesn't bother people in his day-to-day routine, he still would like to feel more confident when looking at himself in the mirror. The solution put together by the team at the Bristol 3D Medical Center was to 3D print a custom orbital prosthesis.

The prosthetics at the Bristol 3D Medical Centre are created using a PEEK 3D printer, manufactured by Mini Factory. This is a huge 3D printing system that features a heated chamber capable of reaching 250°C to help ensure print quality, crucial when creating something for medical purposes.

There are apparently more use cases popping up that the team didn't initially anticipate. For example, the workers are able to use 3D models of damaged organs to help surgeons determine exactly where they need to operate and if there are any areas of concern that need to be avoided, like blood vessels and nerves.

The field of 3D printing has a lot of incredible potential, but for most people, playing around with a printer at home is good enough. If you want to dabble in 3D printing, take a look at our list of best 3D printers and see which ones we personally recommend.

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