One of the biggest problems with having babies is that you have to wait nine months to see what they looks like up close. 3D printing, however, is changing that.
Operating alongside Japanese clinics, Tokyo-based medical engineering firm Fasotec has started a program that gives expecting parents 3D printed models of their babies’ faces, as described in a recent CNN segment.
Fasotec generates the printouts via a technology called BioTexture, which utilizes ultrasound to create the initial 3D models.
What’s interesting is that Fasotec also tested generating printed models of entire fetuses, but it scrapped the belief on fears of the damage the MRI scans could cause to pregnant women.
Unsurprisingly, all of this is relatively expensive. Fasotec charges $500 for the entire scanning and printing process, so unless you’re really impatient to feel your unborn child’s face, maybe is a better idea to wait a couple of months.