Assignment 1: Information Literacy

Andrew Chalk

Article: 3-D Printed Prosthetics That Look Fit for a Sci-Fi Warrior
Source: Wired.com
Summary:
William Root, a graduate of New Yorks Pratt Institute, has developed a new way to easily
manufacture lightweight prosthesis using 3-D printing technology. This process uses MIT's
biometric program called Fitsocket, to measure the existing tissue on the patient so that the
prosthetic may fit them better. That data is then sent to a 3-D printer, and ran through modeling
software. The 3-D printer technology not only advances the manufacturing of prosthetic limbs by
making the fit more exact, it also allows for stronger limbs. As the 3-D printer constructs the leg,
it senses where the most weight will be distributed so it can apply a denser material.

Keywords used in both searches: 3-D Printer, Prosthetics, new 3-D printing tech
I used Google and Bing.
Google article: New prosthetic "trooper" arm built with 3-D printer surprises Augusta boy
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2015-01-10/new-trooper-arm-surprises-augusta-boy
This article was very relevant, written only five days after my original article, and was basically
about the same topic. Although it focused more on the publics reaction to the technology more
than the technology itself. I believe it to be trustworthy because what scientific information I
could find
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in the article was all quoted or papahrased from 3-D printing professionals.

Bing article: 3D Printing: What a 3D Printer Is and How It Works

http://www.livescience.com/34551-3d-printing.html
I believe this article to be much less relevant because it is out dated and has not been updated in a
few months. Which is surprising because I found it on a website that claims to be a leading

science blog. One would think they would be up to date on information about technology. I
didn't see anything about the new advancements in using 3-D printers to make Prosthetics.

Comparison: The Google search was the better of the two in this case, the articles were current,
and a few scientific blogs and journals turned up as the top results. Whereas, with Bing, the
majority of the top results were for companies that sold or used 3-D printer technology.

Databases:
Keywords: 3-D pruning, printing, prosthetic printing
Science Direct: 3-D organ printing technologies for tissue engineering applications
MEDLINE: 3D Printing: Print the future of ophthalmology.
I chose Science Direct and MEDLINE because I was searching for an advancement in the
medical technology field, and I thought I would find the best results in databases inteded for that
material.
I thought both the internet and library database searches were very fruitful, I found many helpful
links and articles. Although I have to say that the internet search might be better.
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First of all because of the availability of the information on the regular internet search. Everyone
can go search on google, but only ccbc students have access to the libraries databases. The
regular internet also has more timely information because any one can upload new information
from anywhere, news is constantly being updated. However that is also a problem, since anyone
can do it, the information is not always accurate. This is not so with the databases because the
information is checked and uploaded by experts in that particular subject.

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Work Cited MLA
Flaherty, Joseph. "3-D Printed Prosthetics That Look Fit for a Sci-Fi Warrior | WIRED."
Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2015

Corwin, Tom. "New Prosthetic "trooper" Arm Built with 3-D Printer Surprises Augusta Boy."
The Augusta Chronicle. The Augusta Chronicle, 10 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Hsu, By Jeremy. "3D Printing: What a 3D Printer Is and How It Works." LiveScience.
TechMedia
Network, 21 May 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.
H.-W. Kang, C. Kengla, S.J. Lee, J.J. Yoo, A. Atala. 3-D organ printing technologies for tissue
engineering applications. Rapid Prototyping of Biomaterials, Volume null, Issue null,
Pages 236-253
Huang, Wenbin, and Xiulan Zhang. "3D Printing: Print The Future Of Ophthalmology."
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 55.8 (2014): 5380-5381. MEDLINE.
Web. 11 Jan. 2015.