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Unit 7 - Medical Frontiers

3-D printing allows objects to be created by depositing layers of material based on a digital design. This technique offers advantages over traditional manufacturing like reduced waste and easier customization without changing machinery. The passage discusses how 3-D printing is being used for medical applications such as printing human tissue, bones, organs and prosthetics to improve people's lives. While developing the necessary software designs remains challenging, 3-D printing holds promise to transform medicine.

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124 views

Unit 7 - Medical Frontiers

3-D printing allows objects to be created by depositing layers of material based on a digital design. This technique offers advantages over traditional manufacturing like reduced waste and easier customization without changing machinery. The passage discusses how 3-D printing is being used for medical applications such as printing human tissue, bones, organs and prosthetics to improve people's lives. While developing the necessary software designs remains challenging, 3-D printing holds promise to transform medicine.

Uploaded by

Con Gà
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNIT 7: MEDICAL FRONTIERS

READING: Just press “PRINT”


PRE-READING Skimming
INSTRUCTIONS

Skim the passage. Then answer the question.

The main purpose of the passage is to __a______.

a. explain the uses of a technology

b. express an opinion about a technology

c. describe the advantages and disadvantages of a technology

Imagine being able to print rocket engine parts, chocolate figurines, designer sunglasses, or even pizzas
—just by pressing a single button. It may sound like something out of science fiction, but it’s
increasingly becoming a reality.

Thanks to 3-D printing, companies are reimagining their long-term business plans. General Electric, for
example, is already using 3-D printers to make some parts of jet engines. Airbus envisions that by
2050, entire planes could be built out of 3-D printed parts. And this trend isn’t just limited to corporate
giants. Dutch architectural firm DUS is 3-D printing a house on the banks of Amsterdam’s Buiksloter
Canal.

THE ADVANTAGES OF 3-D PRINTING


Invented in the mid-1980s, 3-D printers create solid, three-dimensional objects from various materials
such as plastic, wax, wood, gold, or titanium.[1] A major advantage of 3-D printing is that designs for
objects can be easily customized or changed. When designs change in traditional manufacturing, the
machinery that makes the objects needs to be redesigned or upgraded, which can be very costly. But in
the case of 3-D printers, only the software needs to be modified.

3-D printing is also better than traditional manufacturing because there’s no wasted material. With
traditional manufacturing, material is cut away to create an object, but 3-D printing uses only what is
necessary. Guided by software, a 3-D printer builds an object one layer at a time, placing material only
where it needs to be. As a result, it can make complex objects less expensively.

MEDICAL USES OF 3-D PRINTING

This precision is making it possible to produce things that have never been made before. A team of
Harvard University researchers recently printed human tissue, complete with blood vessels—a crucial
step toward one day transplanting human organs printed from a patient’s own cells. “That’s the
ultimate goal of 3-D bio-printing,” says Jennifer Lewis, who led the research. “We are many years
away from achieving this goal.”

3-D printers can create bones, organs, synthetic skin, and prosthetic[2] body parts—such as hands and
arms. In fact, 3-D printing saved a dying baby named Kaiba Gionfriddo, who was born with a condition
that regularly caused the airways near his lungs to collapse. Using a 3-D printer, a team of researchers
in the United States printed a flexible tube, which they implanted[3] in Kaiba, and which enabled him to
breathe on his own.

3-D printing also provided a nose for an Irish baby, Tessa Evans, who was born without one. Over
time, 3-D printed implants of increasing sizes will be surgically placed under her skin where her nose
should be. The implants will gradually create a “nose” from her own skin, allowing her to look just like
everyone else as she grows into adulthood. If it weren’t for 3-D printing, doctors would have had an
extremely difficult time modeling the implant and customizing it to suit Tessa’s face.

THE FUTURE OF 3-D PRINTING

Clearly, 3-D printing has much potential for growth. While there is no doubt that this medical
technology will continue to improve many people’s lives, the challenge lies in developing software that
is advanced or sophisticated enough to create the initial blueprints. Designing the blueprint or a digital
model for a vital organ—with all its cell types and structures—is an extremely complex process.
Nevertheless, many are hopeful that this obstacle will soon be overcome, and that 3-D printing will
change the face of medicine.
[1] titanium: n. a very hard metal
[2] prosthetic: adj. artificial

[3] implanted: v. inserted into the body

UNDERSTANDING MAIN IDEAS


INSTRUCTIONS

Answer the question.

Choose the sentence that best describes the author's attitude toward 3-D printing.

a. This technology will be of more benefit to corporate giants like General Electric than to smaller
start-ups.

b. Medical uses of this technology will make life easier for many people.

c. Applications in engineering, such as manufacturing airplanes, are currently the most important use
of this
technology.

UNDERSTANDING DETAILS
INSTRUCTIONS

Choose the correct answers.

a. cuts objects from material 

Traditional manufacturing

b. runs on software 

3-D printing

c. can be expensive to upgrade 

Traditional manufacturing

d. is easy to customize 

3-D printing
e. makes three-dimensional objects 

3-D printing and Traditional manufacturing

f. tends to create waste

Traditional manufacturing

BUILDING VOCABULARY
INSTRUCTIONS

A  Complete the sentences. Highlight the correct words from the passage.

1. With 3-D printing technology, the process of making prosthetic devices is quicker and cheaper than
with ( traditional  / three-dimensional ) methods.
2. The prosthetic arm was ( customized  / synthetic ) to match the wearer’s favorite color: purple.
3. As more companies start to use 3-D printing, their business strategies will need to be
( customized / modified  ).
4. Playing ( synthetic / three-dimensional  ) video games is fun because they are more realistic.
5. Wigs made from human hair usually look more natural than wigs made from
( synthetic  / customized ) hair.

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