Solid imaging also permits three-dimensional copying. The copied object need not even be visible to the eye. Working with a solid-imaging machine and a ct scanner, researchers examined and replicated a mummy's skull in the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands without unwrapping a single bandage. Several manufacturers of medical implants use solid imaging to model X rays of diseased bones and to create accurate molds for casting replacements such as artificial hip joints. Applications that seem exotic today will become routine, as solid imaging grows rapidly cheaper and more versatile.
Today there are more than a half-dozen related technologies, some of which are far more economical.
Evan Hurd Ink-jet solid imaging is the new cost leader. Your household solid-imaging machine, whenever it arrives, will likely use this approach. A pair of heads, similar to the ones in standard ink-jet printers, zips back and forth around a platform, spitting out 6,000 microdots of hot plastic per second. Each pass of the heads adds another layer of plastic, building up a three-dimensional object. Ink-jet imaging is slow but precise, perfect for modeling small, finely drawn objects.