There’s another entrant in the scan-and-print-your-fetus service line as an Estonian 3D technology company has announced a service they say gives parents-to-be the the opportunity to hold their expected bundle of joy in their hands before the moment of birth.

Wolfprint 3D is now printing full-color, three-dimensional models for expectant parents.

“We’re trying to create a very positive emotion for (expectant mothers) as a memory of this magical time,” says the CEO of Wolfprint 3D, Timmu Toke.

The 3D models are built from ultrasound scans and a plaster cast is created which is used to make the final object.

“The printed unborn baby is in full color to make them more real and the colors more vivid,” says Toke.

He adds that the models of the unborn babies are, at least at this point, partial because 3D ultrasound data only offers a limited view of the baby. Toke says that while 3D printers are fully capable of printing out a model of the entire fetus, his company doesn’t want to do anything that might prove dangerous to a pregnancy.

He says the baby’s face and hands are as close to reality as possible, and that the final size of the print can be controlled according to a client’s request. If clients are so inclined, the 3D model can be produced at a scale of 1:1.

One of the company’s clients, expectant mother Maarja, says she hopes to keep the figurine until she can give it to her son to allow him to see himself before birth and as a demonstration of the technologies that were available at the time of his birth.

“I didn’t want to remember my pregnancy as just doctors’ visits and tests and weighing and measuring,” Maarja says. “I wanted to turn the experience into something emotional to be remembered by my family. It made me feel like the baby was already with my family. I’ll just remember it as a very positive emotion.”

The price of the 3D printouts range from between 200 and 300 euros ($225 to $340) depending on the final size of the model, and Wolfprint 3D says they’re working to establish collaborative relationships with ultrasonic clinics throughout Estonian. Ultrasound technology has been around for nearly half a century, and doctors say it provides a safe method of revealing activity in the abdomen by using high frequency sound waves.

Toke says the idea began with cooperation from ultrasound specialist Dr. Marek Shoysa in December of last year. He adds that while conventional 3D printers use plastic, Wolfprint 3D makes their figurines from gypsum.

This Estonian company is offering to use ultrasound data to create a 3D printed model of your unborn child. What do you think? Let us know in the ‘3D Print Your Unborn Child’ forum thread on 3DPB.com. For those who can’t hold off and wish instead to 3D print a human embryo, right away, well here’s a 3D model thanks to SketchFab.com:

Human Embryo Carnegie Stage 17

by utinilamsari

on Sketchfab

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