I wish someone would design ... (my suggested design & other suggestions)

[Daniel Ross]

it is a matter of education rather than technology.

Education is a big part of the solution. Witness resistance to Ebola safety measures.

Overpopulation caused in part by lack of education caused in part by poverty caused in part by high cost of resources caused in part by scarcity of resources caused in part by overpopulation. Typical positive feedback loop not amenable to control. Technological fix can help break that loop. Worth trying, considering the potential cost/benefit ratio.

[Daniel Ross]

can help nreak that loop.

Typo: "nreak" should be "break".

[Mjolinor]

Education is a big part of the solution. Witness resistance to Ebola safety measures.

Overpopulation caused in part by lack of education caused in part by poverty caused in part by high cost of resources caused in part by scarcity of resources caused in part by overpopulation. Typical positive feedback loop not amenable to control. Technological fix can help break that loop. Worth trying, considering the potential cost/benefit ratio.

Not a positive feedback loop. It is self controlling. The only reason that "we" are concerned is that if "we" let it control itself then that control does not discriminate between us and them, epidemic will reduce the numbers, problem solved until next time.

Our problem is that "we" want to not let the control take a natural course by stopping the cycle. Whether or not it is a sensible and correct thing to do depends on whether or not you are "us" or "them". To us, stopping the birth of children that will die is sensible. To them, having lots of children to satisfy immediate needs should you grow dependant is the sensible thing to do.

No right or wrong here, just different views and not solvable or relevant to a 3d forum. It will make people get hostile and result in a thread that no one will ever read.

[Daniel Ross]

This is a completely separate idea that I got from a science fiction story when I was young, seemingly 2 centuries ago. Ever-shrinking machine shops. Use a conventional machine shop to build a smaller machine shop. Use that to build an even smaller machine shop. Etc. An iterative process. Its success requires that mechanical error tolerances become smaller as the machines become smaller.

At present there exist conventional machine shops and nanodevices fabricated on chips. There does not exist anything of in-between size.

Could 3D printers of differing manufacturers and differing design principles, be teamed together to make the next smaller size family of 3D printers? The next smaller size 3D printers need not look the same or even work the same as their larger forbears. They just need to be of practical use. It would be nice if they were complete enough to make even smaller 3D printers.

[Mjolinor]

This is a completely separate idea that I got from a science fiction story when I was young, seemingly 2 centuries ago. Ever-shrinking machine shops. Use a conventional machine shop to build a smaller machine shop. Use that to build an even smaller machine shop. Etc. An iterative process. Its success requires that mechanical error tolerances become smaller as the machines become smaller.

At present there exist conventional machine shops and nanodevices fabricated on chips. There does not exist anything of in-between size.

Could 3D printers of differing manufacturers and differing design principles, be teamed together to make the next smaller size family of 3D printers? The next smaller size 3D printers need not look the same or even work the same as their larger forbears. They just need to be of practical use. It would be nice if they were complete enough to make even smaller 3D printers.

May I have some of whatever you are smoking?

[Daniel Ross]

Ever-shrinking machine shops ... success requires that mechanical error tolerances become smaller as the machines become smaller

Make many copies of the same widget, select the most accurate one. Statistics work in your favor. There are microscopes that can resolve very small images, to help in selection. The microscopes are expensive, rent microscope time.

Maybe the techniques that stabilize microscope images, can be applied to 3D printer stability. The microscopes are not mass produced. Maybe 3D printing can reduce the cost of the microscopes. Contact Rich Didday rich@indecsystems.com . Tell him Dan sent you. He is very tolerant.

[3D OZ]

Lippes loop does not require customisation and has lost FDA approval largely because it doesn't work as well as active IUDs.

No IUD requires any level of customisation, there is no such thing as a customised IUD!
ALL IUDs are mass-produced, not a field where 3D printing can or should help.

No inert IUD has approval in the US, UK, Canada or Australia.
There is no benefit in 3D printing a small, standard, non-customised plastic item when far better options exist in both methods of manufacture and device types.

I applaud your intent but this is not a puzzle solved by 3D printers.

[awerby]

This is the sort of thing that gives lawyers orgasms. Imagine what happens when a woman gets sick with one of these things inside her - the feeding frenzy over the "3D-printed gun" would fade into insignificance. If you don't remember the Dalkon Shield, look it up. This was the product of a major pharmaceutical company, and it bankrupted that company. Who would be to blame for a 3D printed device's failure -its designers, the doctor that installed it, the company that printed it, the manufacturers of the printer, the producers of the materials that went into it, or all of the above?

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[curious aardvark]

I've seen a 3dprinted iud. Either in one of brian's press releases or on a 3d file site.

And yep - it really was very simple.

Found it - here you go: http://www.3ders.org/articles/201301...d-concept.html

So, next topic to argue about please :-)

[Daniel Ross]

Found it - here you go: http://www.3ders.org/articles/201301...d-concept.html

Interesting and simple design. The legal disclaimer seems disingenuous. I think that the designer thinks he has a workable product. 3D printing was essential to the design, but appears unnecessary if some manufacturer picks up on it. So be it. There is no need to add complication. 3 points regarding the comments at the end. 1st, boiling is an effective means of sterilization, readily available to everyone. 2nd, insertion could be performed by doctors or by trained midwives. 3rd, open source design prevents profit gouging by patent holders. The liability issue is no worse than for any other IUD design. This is an example of 3D printing living up to its initial promise.