Advancing the Medical Field
3D laser scanning services have created a title wave in the technological world and entered many industries bringing new advancements. One of the ways we never expected it to be used is in the medical field. Additive manufacturing has transformed clinical medicine into something we would never have imagined years ago. Now it is being used to help arthritis treatments that could prevent patients from being in pain.
Osteoarthritis is more common than you may know, but another thing is that it can be hard to treat. Over time the cartilage that coats the bones wears off and causes extreme pain to a person. Typically, what will happen is a person will get a two-dimensional x-ray that a doctor or tech has to evaluate. It can make it incredibly hard to detect arthritis. It relies on spotty imaging and tech to interrupt what needs to be seen. Like with any human, errors can occur.
3D laser scanning services can take better images with greater details than a two-dimensional x-ray machine. On top of that, it allows for less guesswork to be done by the tech and doctor. As a result, it makes detecting arthritis easier and a valid treatment plan faster.
Cambridge University has a young group of students working on new ways to detect arthritis faster. For example, testing out new 3D laser scanning devices and understanding which ones work best to evaluate and track structural changes to identify the diseases earlier than previously. Most times, in the past, arthritis was not detected until after it was painful. Using 3D laser scanning devices is one way to detect it without letting it go further.
This technology is typically used to monitor blood flow and internal organs but not commonly used to gather insight about a human’s joints. People refer to this as a CT scan or Computed Tomography; it is the 3D capture of the inside of a human body.
How does 3D laser scanning work?
You may be surprised to find out that 3D laser scanning was first in the form of LiDAR or light detection and ranging. It was created in the 1960s and has developed incredibly fast since then. However, the first CT scan was invented in 1972. Over the last several years, many forms of 3D laser scanning have developed. All have been incredibly useful in our society, though not always adopted with speed.
It is more like a full-body 3D laser scanning device that a person lays in. Over the years, CT scanners have become some of the most advanced equipment for doctors and allow them to see things they would never have access to. It may be the next step to tracking diseases and stopping them before they occur.
Final thoughts
3D laser scanning services and devices are one of the best inventions we have ever had. Having it develop in so many areas has made it versatile. It has changed the way our healthcare system performs checkups and allows us to track changes in diseases. Years ago, we would never have hoped to accomplish this or dream of making a difference like this. Soon we will see more people battle Arthritis before it causes them pain.
