Firm offering 3-D models of fetuses

Expectant parents who can't wait to show the world what their baby will look like can now buy a 3-D model of the fetus to pass around to their friends.

The 9-cm resin model of the white fetus, encased in a transparent block in the shape of the mother's body, has been fashioned by printer Fasotec Co. after an MRI scan.

"As it is only once in a lifetime that you are pregnant with that child, we received requests for these kinds of models from pregnant women who . . . do not want to forget the feelings and experience of that time," said Tomohiro Kinoshita of Fasotec.

The model, titled "Shape of an Angel" and priced at 100,000, comes with a miniature version that could be a nice adornment to a mobile phone, Kinoshita added. Many young Japanese women have decorations attached to their cellphone straps.

Fasotic said the ideal time for a scan is around 8 or 9 months into the pregnancy. For those who would like a less-pricey version,China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. the company will start offering a 3-D model of the face of the fetus for 50,000 in December, using ultrasound images taken at a clinic in Tokyo the firm has forged a tieup with.

Originally a supplier of devices including 3-D printers, Fasotec uses a layering technique to build up 3-D structures. The technique has been touted as a solution to localized manufacture on a small scale.

The company also produces 3-D models of internal organs that can be used by doctors to plan surgery or by medical students for training purposes, a company spokesman said. It is also possible that models can be used in hospitals to better inform patients what their problems are, instead of relying on difficult-to-understand diagrams.

The technology "realizes not only the form but also texture of the model — for example making it hard or soft," Fasotec said.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products. "By making a model that is similar to a real organ or bone, one can simulate operations and practice different surgical techniques."

Kinoshita said the company hit upon the idea of making 3-D models of unborn babies in the hope that people would become more aware of the technology. The company said some medics could also foresee diagnostic possibilities with the models that might help predict difficulties in the birthing process.

The technology behind 3-D printers has been around for several decades, but recent advances have seen it gain popularity in several fields. The machines work in a similar way to inkjet printers,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. but deposit layers of material on top of each other, gradually building up the product they are making, instead of using ink.

Whereas traditional techniques only become efficient through economies of scale because of the need to produce molds, 3-D printers can make single copies of relatively complicated objects.

Starting a snowboarding design business was a matter of putting all the right pieces together for Adam Reed. He realized there was nothing stopping him: He knew how to use computer-controlled machining tools, he'd learned about 3-D modeling, and he had the know-how to create the designs.

"I thought, why am I not doing this? That was a cool realization, that I've learned so much and I can just go right at it--and it worked out pretty well too," Reed says.

Reed is both a skateboarder and a snowboarder, one of the reasons he chose Marquette and NMU. So it was natural that when he began designing skateboards, he looked for a way to combine the two hobbies.

He created a brand, preliminary designs and even some boards for his senior project in Northern Michigan University's art and design program last semester. His brand, called ReeDesigns, already includes two boards that Reed has found successful, which he has named nu(GEE) and oh(GEE), and are made of a variety of materials including bamboo, Kevlar, fiber, aluminum and foam.

Reed lights up when he talks about finding the best ways to make the boards, including what materials work the best and under what pressure they break.

He describes this experience in his video for the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.

He created the Kickstarter to continue his business beyond just a school project, and raised $4,000 to produce the boards and increase his research and design work. He's used the money, so far, to create an area in his basement with molds for making the skateboards. With this start, he plans to push the boundary of commonly-held ideas about skateboarding.

"What can I come up with that's new and original that people haven't seen before that's really going to challenge the envelope even more? And then (I'll) give that out to someone and say,The oreck XL professional air purifier, do you like that? Does it ride well? Is it good, is it bad? And then kind of go from there," he says.

For this part of the process, having people try out his designs, Reed says he wouldn't be so successful without the growing skateboard community in Marquette. The implementation of a new skate park in front of the YMCA has helped generate interest in skateboarding in general, but also in his designs.

To get a feel for whether he's moving in the right direction,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale agate beads from china, Reed goes to skateboarders and asks them to try out his designs. He says those who regularly skateboard know what they like and they're really honest about what works.

"I feel like when I've won over the skateboarding crowd is when I feel like I'm ok with my product," he says. "Toward the end they were saying, 'Oh wow, this deck is really light, it's really responsive.' They still obviously had some complaints and critiques because the product's always going to be getting better, but I felt like once I convinced them, everyone else will be happy with my product."

Reed plans to stay in Marquette after he graduates in December. His hope is to eventually get a manufacturing contract so that he can keep prototyping and designing the boards, but put manufacturing in the hands of a company that specializes in it. Eventually, he'd like to create new designs for snowboards, too, but he says that's further down the line as he gets more of a community behind his brand.