Tomorrow, 2017 will enter into its third month, and 3DPrint.com has already been to two major conferences, attending CES 2017 in January and SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2017 at the beginning of February. Next week, we’ll be on the road yet again, this time heading to Toronto for the return of the Be3Dimensional (Be3D) Conference. Not to be confused with YSoft’s Be3D printer line, the conference is being put on by Think2Thing and partner Ryerson University. The two institutions first launched the Be3D Conference, the first 3D printing conference to be held in Toronto, in 2015, and now it’s back with an expanded agenda to encompass a wider range of 3D technologies including virtual and augmented reality.

The one-day conference will be held at the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Bell Lightbox cinema and cultural center on March 9 with the theme “Think Forward,” and attendees are invited to do just that as multiple industries come together to discuss practical applications for 3D technology now and in the future. According to Think2Thing, particular emphasis will be placed on augmented and virtual reality and how they go beyond programming and manufacturing to encompass a broader range of industries, including art and design.

“As an artist myself, I immediately recognized the disruptive impact that 3D technology has on the art community,” says filmmaker and photographer Edward Burtynsky, who will be a featured speaker at the event. “Photography has moved from film, to digital, and now to 3D form.”

In addition to Burtynsky, the conference will feature multiple speakers from the art and design world, including:

A VIP event will immediately follow the conference, with a keynote speech entitled “What is Reality and why change it? A philosophical backdrop in a time of adventure,” being given by Charles Falzon, Dean of Ryerson University’s Faculty of Communication and Design.

Nowadays, no tech conference is complete without some sort of startup competition, and Be3D will feature the Pitch2Product competition in which five Ontario-based companies will compete for a free patent application, valued at $15,000, and the opportunity to work with law firm Deeth Williams Wall to develop their patent application up to the patent pending stage. The competition is being supported by Ryerson’s Ted Rogers MBA program.

“Ryerson is committed to supporting the economic development of both the GTA and Canada though research and innovation,” said Usha George, Interim Vice-President, Research and Innovation, Ryerson University. “3D-technologies offer a number of opportunities for our region, and the Be3D 2017 Think Forward conference will allow us to explore how we can collaborate to build a robust industry cluster.”

The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is home to the largest design workforce in Canada and the third largest in North America, after New York and Boston. Ryerson and Think2Thing took pride in bringing the first 3D printing conference to the city, and are now looking to expand upon their position as leaders in 3D technology by introducing an additional focus on augmented and virtual reality. It’s getting harder to separate VR/AR and 3D printing from each other, and we’re looking forward to attending the conference and learning more about the technology’s impact on Toronto – and how Toronto’s technology and design sector will impact the rest of the world.

John MacRitchie, Senior Director, Business Development and Strategic Planning at Ryerson University’s Office of the Vice President Research and Innovation, answered A Few Questions For us ahead of next week’s event to fill in a bit more detail.

Can you tell us why the host organizations are looking forward to this conference?

“Ryerson and Think2Thing are excited for this conference as it creates an opportunity for the Toronto creative and tech communities to explore potential collaborations. These collaborations will set Toronto on a path to become a wold class cluster for the application of 3d-technologies.”

What can you share with us about the state of 3D printing in Canada in general and specifically prospects in Toronto?

“The Greater Toronto Region and Southern Ontario have a unique combination of globally competitive clusters in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), Screen-based Creative Industries, and Manufacturing. This combination creates a strong foundation on which to take advantage of the revolution brought on by 3D Technologies. These markets remain fragmented with limited connections between the companies developing these technologies and the companies working to apply them. Be3D and the Think Forward conference are working to build the connections required for a globally competitive industry cluster in Toronto.”

How do you see AR/VR interacting with and impacting 3D printing, and what do you hope to see from this year’s B3D Conference event?

“3D Technologies include; 3D-Printing, 3D Scanning, 3D visualization (Virtual and Augmented Reality) technologies and the software used to capture, manipulated and interact with multidimensional information and images. Individually each of these technologies represent new tools that can be applied in a wide range of industries and when used collectively will radically change the ways in which we interact with information, how we create new products, and how those products will be marketed, purchased and used.”

Stay tuned for details and impressions from the conference floor next week!

Swiss company Phonak, a provider of wireless communication solutions and hearing aids and owned by hearing aid producer Sonova, has come to our attention before – like when it turned to EnvisionTEC for its 3D printing capabilities, in turn disrupting the entire hearing aid industry. Phonak’s 3D printed hearing aids were also featured in a special 3D printed design exhibit at the Red Dot Design Museum in Germany last year. Just six months after the launch of its lithium-ion rechargeable hearing aid Audéo B-R, Phonak and Sonova have announced the launch of two new custom hearing solutions. Thanks to 3D printing and titanium material, a new addition to the Belong platform is here: the Virto B-Titanium. Another highly-anticipated Belong extension of the Bolero family’s behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing instruments was also announced: the lithium-ion rechargeable Bolero B-PR.

Virto B-Titanium

These are both set to be important additions to Phonak’s portfolio of super-discreet and rechargeable hearing aids, and Sonova is fully aware of the many benefits of 3D printing technology. 3D printing with titanium significantly reduces the shell of the Virto hearing aid, as the titanium shell is half as thin as acrylic shells. The tiny, discreet Virto is Phonak’s first custom device made with strong, lightweight titanium, and a great way to celebrate Phonak’s 70th anniversary.

According to Sonova, “Using state-of-the-art 3D printing technology to manufacture hearing instruments out of titanium at a large scale enables Sonova to fully leverage the benefits of this material and build smaller devices with thinner walls than ever before.”

L-R: Virto B-Titanium, Virto V-nano

Because of its reduced shell size, the Virto B-Titanium is actually the smallest custom BTE hearing instrument that Phonak has ever produced. It also features embedded electronic components that are 60% smaller than the Virto’s predecessor, and the overall size of the Virto B-Titanium has been reduced up to 26%. This means that the Virto B-Titanium could possibly fit patients who were not good candidates for previous IIC devices, due to smaller ear canals.

This small, discreet size make it a popular choice for first-time users of hearing aids. Even with its decreased size, the Virto B-Titanium also offers more venting, which makes it more comfortable, and also reduces occlusion with IICs. It is only available in one style – a black faceplate with a silver shell, but has M, P, and SP receivers available.

Bolero B-PR

The Bolero B-PR built upon the Audéo B-R’s beneficial rechargeable solution: when fully charged, the Bolero can work for a full 24 hours, and also delivers 80 minutes of wireless streaming time. There are 9 color options for the Bolero B-PR, ranging from Velvet Black to to Graphite Gray and Champagne. According to a recent study, 9 out of 10 hearing aid wearers said that they were “very satisfied” with their Phonak rechargeable hearing aids’ battery life, and that 88% of hearing care professionals would recommend them to their colleagues. Both hearing aid wearers and hearing care professionals listed ease of use as the top advantage.

Thomas Lang, Senior Vice President of Phonak Marketing, said, “The release of our lithium-ion rechargeable Audéo B-R was one of the most successful product launches in Phonak history. That’s why we are so excited to announce the extension of this pioneering rechargeable technology to the Bolero B-PR only six months later while simultaneously introducing Virto B-Titanium – the tiniest custom instrument Phonak has ever produced. More than ever, these new products reinforce Phonak’s commitment to fast-paced innovation, ease of use, and improved quality of life.”

To create these custom hearing aids, silicone impressions of the wearer’s ear canal are scanned into the computer through laser technology, and any other processing is digitally completed on-screen. The completed file of the 3D hearing aid shell structure is stored in a central database, and transmitted to the 3D printers at Sonova’s production site. Sonova mostly relies on DLP printers, though the Virto B-Titanium is 3D printed using SLM technology. Even though Sonova 3D prints hundreds of thousands of hearing aids each year, every one is tailor-made for each individual wearer.

Both the Virto B-Titanium, and all Bolero models, including B-M, B-P, B-SP, and the new rechargeable B-PR, run on an updated version of Phonak’s operating system, AutoSense OS. Every 0.4 seconds, AutoSense automatically analyzes the sounds it hears and, drawing on multiple features, blends them together in order to make over 200 distinct settings that can match sound environments around the wearer, all without manual adjustments.

Two studies completed at the Phonak Audiology Research Center, “Performance and Preference of an Automatic Hearing Aid System in Real-World Listening Environments” and “Comparing objective and subjective outcomes of automatic classification systems across manufacturers,” confirmed that the AutoSense OS “delivered better speech understanding over patients’ manual selection and unmatched hearing performance in everyday listening situations over two leading competitors.”

Both the Virto B-Titanium, and the new Bolero B family, including the rechargeable Bolero B-PR, are currently available in the US, and will be coming to most European countries in March. To see how Phonak built the 50% thinner shell of the Virto B-Titanium, take a look at the following video:

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[Images: Phonak]

(L-R) Brooks Myers, Brandon Gell, and Jacob Kuttothara of Knockout Concepts with Michael Cao of IC3D at the Tap Takeover

About a month ago, I was in Columbus, Ohio to see 3D technologies come together in a community-driven project that showcased local brewmasters in the Tap Takeover event spearheaded by Knockout Concepts. The 3D scanning software company turned to nearby IC3D for 3D printing capabilities as well as local artist Kendric Tonn to paint the beer taps that featured the 3D printed likenesses of 20 brewmasters who had been 3D scanned. While the craft beer-focused event provided a fun project, and a great gathering of the local tech, artistic, and hoppy community, it was also an excellent introduction to all that Knockout Concepts does have to offer.

On my recent follow-up trip to Columbus, I had the opportunity to sit down with Brandon Gell, Knockout Concepts’ Special Projects Manager, to catch up. We met at local must-stop North Market for lunch, enjoying a rare day of sunshine and warmth in the usually freezing Ohio February. Gell filled me in on the company’s history, as well as a road map for where they’ll be heading next.

“We’re dubbing ourselves as the human-centered scanning and design company,” Gell told me of the company’s focus as they have continued to grow and refine operations.

Brandon Gell at Columbus’ North Market

Founded in 2013, Knockout Concepts began as an almost ahead-of-its-time concept as now-CEO S. Brooks Myers came up with an idea for mobile 3D scanning and filed IP on it, joining forces with COO Jacob (Jake) Kuttothara, MD, to get the idea off the ground. The pair were at this point driving innovation in a field that hadn’t quite laid all the groundwork necessary, as tablets couldn’t yet handle 3D scanners. While tablets using 3D scanners are now almost old news, at the point of Knockout Concepts’ inception it was necessary for additional innovation — and so Myers and Kuttothara built their own tablets, from scratch, to run a 3D scanner.

Seen at Maker Faire Detroit in 2013, the tablets developed by the nascent Knockout Concepts went through three or four prototypes put together by a team that included a mechanical engineer, a fellow with a doctorate in algorithms, and a team of coders. In the years since, Gell noted, technology has caught up; Knockout Concepts does offer its KS1 scanner, but also uses off-the-shelf tablets and scanners and is fully focusing its attention on software.

“Since then, obviously, hardware has caught up with us and now we focus almost entirely on 3D scanning software, specifically 3D scanning software for human centered design,” Gell explained. “We give people a tool to customize the things on their bodies, and the things they interact with, to fit them perfectly. In addition to selling the KS1 Scanner, we work with vertical markets to customize 3D scanning software for their needs.”

North Market entrance on a sunny Friday in February

These days, the company is taking a human-centered approach to technology, working on “customization of anything that goes on the human body” with targeted 3D scanning capabilities that zero in on human individuality. “Average people still don’t know what to do with 3D printing and 3D scanning,” he noted, expanding on the company’s philosophy of spreading the good word of 3D technologies. They are looking to educate people about what technology can be used for, Gell told me, and positioning the company to be the go-to for projects using such technologies as Google Tango, among other consumer-targeted tech.

“Knockout has one goal in mind: change the way individuals and corporations interact with the 3D world. We’re leading the custom revolution, from personalized software to custom fit prosthetics and equipment. We have your back from start to finish, from idea to execution, from scan to final product,” the company notes of their mission. “We build 3D Software, lead custom projects in the physical world, and support movers and shakers looking to integrate 3D scanning into a workflow. Our proprietary algorithms power the fastest and highest resolution Mobile 3D Scans available to date.”

The KS1 Mobile 3D Scanner [Photo provided by Knockout Concepts]

Further showing the usefulness of what they do, Gell is among those using the company’s offerings in regular projects. The morning we talked, Gell had spent a bit of time 3D scanning some exposed pipes in order to design a perfectly custom fitted shelf to fit between the pipes without need for nails or other tools to install.

By taking a human-centered approach to 3D scanning technology, Knockout Concepts embraces both technology and the people behind it. 3D scanning of the human form can lead to any number of useful applications, as we’ve seen through such varied uses as virtual clothes fitting and video game avatars. Knockout Concepts is additionally continuing to look within its local community, highlighting the localization possible with 3D technologies as projects for preservation (“the PAST Foundation has two of our scanners”), science (including at COSI), and more are in the works — or at least in the very early stages of planning.

“We have some exciting things coming up in 2017,” Gell told me. “The gist of it all is human-centered.”

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[Photos: Sarah Goehrke for 3DPrint.com unless otherwise credited]

In the United States, just about everyone knows at least a little bit about Silicon Valley – the San Francisco Bay Area is the biggest hub for startups, particularly tech startups, in the country. It has to be intimidating for a young company to try to survive and thrive in the region that produced Google, Apple and Facebook, but product development company BriteLab seems to be doing just fine. Specializing in end-to-end product development from design to manufacturing, BriteLab has a hand in multiple industries, with clients in the fields of medical equipment, communications, industrial and robotics, lasers and optics, and more.

They can add 3D printers to their portfolio thanks to a partnership with fellow Silicon Valley company Type A Machines, creator of the Series 1 and Series 1 Pro 3D printers. Founded in 2012, Type A Machines launched the Series 1 shortly after that, and it’s enjoyed consistent popularity since then, thanks at least in part to its huge build area. To meet the increasing demand for the Series 1 and Series 1 Pro, introduced in 2015, Type A Machines is teaming up with BriteLab in a contract manufacturing partnership.

BriteLab’s expertise and experience in high-volume manufacturing will help Type A Machines to keep up with their rapidly expanding customer base, which now covers six continents. (I’m still hoping we’ll see the day when a company can boast a presence in Antarctica.) According to Type A Machines, keeping manufacturing local was a priority.

The inside of BriteLab’s facility

“The Type A Machines Series 1 line of 3D printers, featuring one of the largest build volumes, support for more than 80 materials, and hot-swappable integration with the Print Pod, has opened new opportunities for 3D manufacturers and entrepreneurs worldwide,” said Andrew Rutter, Type A Machines’ Founder and CEO. “Manufacturing in the U.S. was an important consideration in our selection of an OEM partner. While it’s critical we remain responsive to the market, and protect our intellectual property, we also feel an obligation to improve our local jobs economy. We’re pleased BriteLab was able to meet all of our requirements.”

Through the partnership, BriteLab will provide Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and New Product Information (NPI) services for the Series 1 line as it continues to grow and expand. Type A Machines will benefit from reduced time to market and, thanks to the proximity of BriteLab’s facilities, the ability to stay closely involved in production. They’ll also reduce the risk of IP theft that comes with offshore manufacturing; IP protection is one of BriteLab’s major priorities.

“Type A Machines groundbreaking technologies exemplify the spirit that continues to make Silicon Valley the innovation capital of the world,” said Robert de Neve, CEO of BriteLab. “We look forward to collaborating with Type A Machines at a peer-to-peer level and applying our full OEM and automation expertise to help ensure their continued success.”

Type A Machines has expanded beyond strictly 3D printers, introducing printing materials, software, and networking tools over the past couple of years. While the company hasn’t announced any new products to come in the near future, their collaboration with BriteLab will ease much of the burden of scaling up production of their existing printers, leaving more room for product development.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the federal government agency for scientific and medical research in Australia, successfully integrated 3D printed titanium and polymer sternum implants into a British patient. In partnership with Anatomics, a Melbourne-based medical device company which led the development and designing of the 3D printed sternum implant, and British surgeons, CSIRO was able to manufacture custom-built titanium- and polymer-based sternum implants with an enterprise-grade 3D printer in its Lab 22 facility.

61-year-old Edward Evans, a British patient who had his sternum removed in a complex operation after suffering from a rare infection, took part in the world’s first 3D printed titanium and polymer implant operation. Since the completion of the operation, CSIRO revealed that Evans was able to recover well, without any medical or health complications and side effects. The operation was performed at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, UK.

Previously, 3DPrint.com reported that K2M, leading developer of complex and minimally invasive spinal surgery technology, launched 3D printed titanium spinal solutions for clinical usage. K2M’s solutions utilized the same metal as CSIRO in titanium. Titanium has also been used previously in sternum operations.

“We approached Anatomics initially, who put us into touch with the team from Salamanca to learn from their experience. It was a real multinational collaboration between surgical units as well as industry using the latest technology,” said cardiothoracic surgeon Ehab Bishay, who had heard of the titanium sternum 3D printed and successfully implanted in 2015. “Although cement is tried and tested we believe that custom built 3D printed titanium implants may have certain advantages which we are looking to show. Titanium is more resistant to infection, lightweight, tough, and since it exactly replicates the defect, it means that the operative time is reduced as it slots in. It should also offer a better cosmetic result.”

He continued, “…we made a number of refinements to the original implant used by the group in Spain. They had used a synthetic mesh behind the implant in the first operation, to reduce the chance of the lungs herniating between the titanium rods that replicated the ribs. Unfortunately that mesh became infected and they had to remove it during a second operation. Instead we asked Anatomics to coat these rods with porous polyethylene to add bulk so we did not have to use a mesh. This seemed to have worked with no signs of infection in Edward’s implant.”

Surgeon Ehab Bishay and patient Edward Evans

Tom Morrison, a neurosurgeon at Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center in Atlanta, Georgia, revealed that titanium-based 3D printed implants led to reduced recovery time for patients, due to their abilities to adapt to the human bone structure efficiently. For Evans, this speedy recovery progress made possible with titanium implants was crucial because of the severity of his infection and complexity of his last surgical procedure which removed his sternum.

Director of CSIRO Manufacturing Dr Keith McLean stated:

“I’m proud of our cutting edge work with Anatomics that has enabled patients around the world to regain the ability to walk, to sit-up and lead normal lives. Here in Melbourne, we have quietly been developing what we believe is one of the world’s most advanced capability in reconstructive prosthetics, and this recent success in the UK demonstrates that.”

With the successful recovery of Evans, CSIRO aims to continue pursuing its joint project with Anatomics, which has lived up to the expectations of the Australian government in its latest task of designing 3D printed implants.

Paul D’Urso, Executive Chairman of Anatomics, explained that both Evans and CSIRO particularly spoke highly of the technological capability of the company to structure 3D printed implants in such a way that both the hard and soft tissues of Evans were reconstituted without any complications.

“For the first time, Anatomics, together with the CSIRO, has manufactured a 3D printed patient specific skeletal reconstruction with advanced composite materials. Mr Evans wonderful recovery testifies to the ability of Anatomics to reconstruct both the hard and soft tissues of the human body in a single prosthetic implant,” said D’Urso.

The demonstration of industry-standard 3D printing methods by CSIRO and Anatomics presents a bright future for the Australian health care and medical industry. By referring to the successful operation of Evans, the two companies will most likely focus on the manufacturing and designing phases of titanium implants, to ensure that the technology can be widely adopted by hospitals and health care organizations in the country for commercial applications.

If the technology and methods of CSIRO reach the level of commercialization, patients like Evans with severe injuries and complicated organ or bone removal procedures will be able to receive sturdy, reliable yet affordable implants at a faster rate as 3D printing continues to impact the future of surgery.

Immediate integration of implants is crucial for patients like Evans because if a rare infection or a severe injury lead to the elimination of a body part, in this case Evans’ sternum, the human body will be extremely vulnerable and exposed to alarming threats.

The BBC’s Gabriel Weston with a prototype of the implant

For instance, when surgeons removed the sternum of Evans, vital organs in the chest including his chest and lungs were widely exposed, which made it impossible for Evans to carry out even the most basic activities until an implant was integrated. When traditional implants are considered, the waiting process for the manufacturing of custom-built implants and the slow recovery process would take at least months and, in some cases, up to years. Therefore, the health care sector is desperately waiting for the commercialization of the technology.

Health Minister Greg Hunt further emphasized that the Australian government is optimistic towards the utilization of 3D printing technology within the field of health care and announced that the government will continue to support the development and commercialization of the technology led by private sector companies like Anatomics.

“The Government is committed to working with the health and medical research and manufacturing community to support ways we can bring innovation to our current health framework, cut red-tape and grow Australia’s already considerable capability in this sector,” said Hunt.

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From February 15 to 18, the 9th International Exhibition of Gold, Silver, Jewelry, Watch and Related Industries (Iran Gold Expo 2017, for short) took place in Tehran. The jewelry industry is one that many people think of as fairly unchanging, and that’s been the case for a long time – it’s ancient craft that has been around for thousands of years. In the nine years since the Iran Gold Expo began, however, a lot has changed in the world of jewelry – in fact, a lot has changed in just the last couple of years.

Traditional methods of fabricating jewelry have been around so long for good reason – they’re effective, and in the right hands (and for the right price) they can produce beautiful, high-quality pieces that can last for decades if not centuries. I don’t expect that the older methods of jewelry-making will ever disappear entirely, but 3D printing has certainly made a lot of headway in the jewelry industry recently, and that’s a trend that’s not likely to disappear.

It’s a trend that was very much in evidence at the Iran Gold Expo, too. According to Iranian publication 3DBaz, two types of exhibitors had a strong presence at the show: older jewelry companies that have been gradually integrating 3D printing into their manufacturing and design processes, and 3D printing companies and enthusiasts who have found their niche in jewelry and are using 3D printing to bring something brand new to the industry.

A few big-name 3D printing companies exhibited, including Formlabs, which owes a lot of its success to its high-detail jewelry printers, and 3D Systems, which isn’t exactly well-known for jewelry printing but nevertheless offers wax printers like the ProJet 3510 CPX and others that are capable of creating quality molds for jewelry casting, making the design and fabrication of complex pieces faster, easier, and less expensive.

Seeing large 3D printing companies in the midst of local exhibitors is more evidence that 3D printing is starting to take over even the oldest of industries. According to 3DBaz, traditional jewelry-makers were something of a rarity at the expo, which is somewhat surprising – especially as 3D printing is an industry that hasn’t yet taken off in Iran the way it has elsewhere. However, it’s starting to grow within the country, and according to Ahmad Mokhtari, Editor-in-Chief of 3DBaz, the exhibition demonstrated how much potential and room for growth there really is.

“It was quite a neat experience,” Mokhtari told 3DPrint.com. “I just realized how everything is going to grow in the next coming years. Surely, It could be surprising, since the growth of this industry is impressing. I’m looking forward to find and discover new startups among producers to help them know more about science, Engineering, marketing, finance and media management.

“Engineers tend to observe this industry in a linear way and I realized they don’t know enough about same businesses globally. The gap between production and marketing was enormous…The point is that I hope the lack of applied science would become less in 2018 and afterwards. The hunger for knowing more is always a win-win deal. I recommend the participant to invest on growing among big companies and not stand still. 3D Printing is one of those trillion dollar opportunities; like VR, AR, Robotics and etc.”

There’s a lot of promise for startups in the country, especially in 3D printing, as the government recently demonstrated its intention to invest in advanced manufacturing through the establishment of a new division of the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology. 3D printing is something that tends to snowball once it’s been introduced, and there’s no telling how many people might have learned more and been inspired by its prominence at the Iran Gold Expo. Like Mokhtari, we’re looking forward to seeing the emergence of new companies centered around 3D printing and other advanced technology in Iran over the next few years.

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