The term 3D printing is brandied about quite a lot these days, so it can be confusing when you hear of human tissue and plastics being used in the same technology. The truth is that while most 3D printing technologies use the same principle : that of building up an object by adding layer upon layer, they all use vastly different methods to achieve this.

The method of 3D printing used can vary in terms of cost, speed, accuracy and materials being used. The final product is also vastly different when a different 3D printing technology is used. There are three commonly used technologies out in the industry today. These include :

1. Fused Deposition Modeling – here a plastic is fed into the printer where it is melted and added in layers. As the layers harden the object is formed or printed. It is a simple enough process to be used in a regular office for consumer printables.

2. Selective Laser Sintering – this technology uses fine powder of metal or plastic while a laser goes over it. The powder gets fused together in layer after layer and forms the printed object. As imaginable this method is far more versatile and allows many range of materials to be made.

3. Stereolithography – this used a liquid resin raw material which is sensitive to ultraviolet light. The light causes the resin to harden in each layer. The process is fast but the printed object does not have great material strength, but science experiments are on to rectify this.