A company in Japan is offering a unique service to pregnant women: the ability to print out a three-dimensional model of the inside of their abdomen, fetus included.
"We actually got three expectant mothers to try this out," said Tomohiro Kinoshita of Fasotec. "They said it felt great to see how their babies looked before birth, and to be able to actually hold the inside of their own body. They also enjoyed looking at the model after giving birth, thinking, 'This is how my baby looked inside me' and recalling how it felt to be pregnant."
The model is created using technology called Bio-Texture Modeling. The technology uses CT or MRI scans to capture a 3D image of the inside of the abdomen. The image is then recreated with a 3D printer, which puts down successive layers of transparent and white resin to construct the model.
"We can make extremely lifelike models, so physicians and medical students can use them to practice incisions and learn about structures in the body," Kinoshita said. "We wanted to let the public know about this kind of technology, which was designed for healthcare and industry. So, we've started this service as a spin-off."
The company said the new service cost about 100,000 yen, or roughly $1215.
Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by DigInfo, below:
[H/T: Mashable]
