3D Printing: Technology with Enormous Potential, but Complicated by Ethical and IP Theft Issues

3D printing technology is advancing dramatically and is on a collision course with questions on ethics and IP protection.

A Boom in DIY Consumer Manufacturing

Miriam Burt, Research Vice President at Gartner, said that “some retailers are already selling 3D printers to consumers, and as they become more readily available, consumers could use them to ‘manufacture’ their own custom-designed products.  We also expect to see 3D copying services and 3D printing bureaus emerge where customers bring 3D models to a retailer or provider and have increasingly high-end parts and designs printed, not just in plastics but in materials including ceramics, stainless steel, and cobalt and titanium alloys.”

BioPrinting and Issues in Ethics

The application of 3d printing to the creation of “bio-printed human organs” has already begun.  But the moral, political, ethical, religious and financial implications of this new technology aren’t yet well understood.  There is enormous potential for good, but there are so many other thorny issues that may complicate how 3d printing can be used.

Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner, said that “the day when 3D-bioprinted human organs are readily available is drawing closer, and will result in a complex debate involving a great many political, moral and financial interests… 3D bioprinting facilities with the ability to print human organs and tissue will advance far faster than general understanding and acceptance of the ramifications of this technology.  These initiatives are well-intentioned but raise a number of questions that remain unanswered. What happens when complex ‘enhanced’ organs involving nonhuman cells are made? Who will control the ability to produce them? Who will ensure the quality of the resulting organs?  Most people do not yet realize that research is underway which involves not only printing non-human cells, but also merging human cells with non-human cells. We think that once folks begin to realize, depending on their backgrounds, there will be some who will be concerned about this possibility.”

3D printing of non-organic medical devices, like prosthetic limbs, is already happening and expected to grow dramatically in 2015 and can help areas that are torn by regional war and conflicts.

Matt Ratto, for example, professor at the faculty of information at the University of Toronto, said that “mobility is something that people take for granted. But a lot of children in the developing world don’t have the capacity to move on their own due to amputation or congenital disease.  We’re seeing if we can capture a 3D model of a child’s residual limb – whatever they have left after an amputation – turn that model into a 3D model and convert that into a printable socket that can serve to support a prosthetic limb.”

Intellectual Property Theft

Basiliere said that “the very factors that foster innovation — crowdsourcing, R&D [research and development] pooling and funding of startups — coupled with shorter product life cycles, provide a fertile ground for intellectual property theft using 3D printers.  Already, it’s possible to 3D print many items, including toys, machine and automotive parts, and even weapons.”  Gartner thinks that the worldwide loss of IP dollars from unauthorized 3D printing could reach $100 billion by 2018.