Ear we go

[Chris Cartwright]

Hi all
3D isn't anything to do with my business, but I find it all fascinating. Years ago at a show, someone from Roland was telling me how their machines had been used to scan and then make a prosthetic ear. I always wondered whether this was true, or just a good story. Can anyone shed light on it?

[Peter Kettle]

Hi Chris
That was probably me. I am particularly proud of the medical applications our machines can be used for. The story I was referring to is probably listed under our US colleague's case studies. Have a look at http://www.rolanddga.com/gallery/medicalDental/. As well as prosthetics, there is an interesting story about how our milling machines are used to produce implants out of human bone - reducing the likelihood of rejection to an absolute minimum.

What is happening now in the dental field is particularly exciting. Or focus at the moment is on crown and bridge production, but, every time we talk to someone in the industry, they see other opportunities.

Exciting times.

[Laurence Grice-Roberts]

Hi Chris and Peter, In the UK, the production of prosthetics body parts for the head are constructed by Maxillo Facial Technicians. These are people who initialy qualify as Dental Technicians then specialise. They are hospital based and will construct ears, eyes in fact anything the surgeon requests. Much of what they do is constructed by hand using traditional techniques but the move into CAD/CAM is something many are looking at particularly when replacing parts that wear out (like ears) where a machine can produce the same part multiple times much faster, cheaper and with greater accuracy than a human. Our 5-Axis DWX-50 is one machine that is being considered as it is able to mill any shape, even those with undercuts across a range of materials.

[andrelewis]

Here in UK, we commonly go for hearing aids and i think dentures are also going well in its developmental stage, as technology has made everything possible so we can look for more options in future.