Congenital diseases, injuries, and unexpected illnesses can leave your child with debilitating conditions — or even death sentences, in rare cases. Advancements in 3D printing are proving to be lifesavers, however.

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Here are five amazing innovations made possible by 3D printing: 

1: Prosthetic limbs that empower kids to be superheroes
Fashion is merging with technology to engineer a new generation of prosthetics that are attractive, affordable, and functional. U.K. firm Open Bionics, for example, has partnered with the Walt Disney Company to offer custom-built 3D-printed bionic arms inspired by a few of your child’s favorite superheroes and princesses: a Star Wars lightsaber arm that lights up and buzzes, a retracting Iron Man hand, and a Princess Elsa glittery hand (from Frozen).

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Apart from the whimsical designs, 3D-printed limbs allow children to undergo physical therapy and monitor muscle development – building strength and dexterity. They are more affordable than traditional prosthetics which is especially important for children who constantly need replacements as they grow. So for the 1,500 babies born each year without part or all of an arm, these prosthetics will be transformative.

2: A dissolvable pill that reduces seizures
In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved a dissolvable pill call SPRITAM (Levetiracetam), marking the first drug created using 3D printing. Spritam, a highly-prescribed anti-seizure medicine for epileptic patients who struggle to keep up with their dosages, is groundbreaking because it disintegrates with just a sip of liquid but delivers a high dosage of medication.

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Parents and caregivers of the 460,000 children in the U.S. with epilepsy have reason to be excited. Getting a child to take his or her medication can be a challenge, but Spritam offers a more palatable, on-the-go solution.

3: New skin generated for burn victims
The current healing process after suffering a significant burn is to graft healthy skin from one part of the body to cover the wound. However, recovery is lengthy, painful, and requires skin from a healthy area that may not be available when a greater percentage of the body is burned.

3D printing is accelerating the quality, quantity, and speed of skin regeneration by multiplying real skin cells and then shaping them into whatever form is needed.

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Makeup company L’Oréal sees the value in creating regenerated skin to test cosmetics and other research, but Wake Forest University in North Carolina is pioneering the process of 3D printing skin right onto the wounds of military burn victims. For the over 280,000 child burn victims in America each year, replacing the painful skin grafting process will expedite their healing and reduce the financial burden on families.

4: Flexible implanted organs that grow as kids grow
Kaiba, Ian, and Garrett are three babies whose lives were saved and life expectancies prolonged because of 3D-printed stent implants that make normal breathing possible for them.

They – like 1 in every 2,200 babies — suffer from a rare, incurable, congenital disease called tracheobronchomalacia, which causes the collapse of their airways, halting their little hearts and breaths. Current treatments require prolonged hospitalization and carry life-threatening complications. Babies with severe cases have little chance of surviving.

Baby Jaxon Buell and the many other children with partial, missing, and deformed skulls could be made whole with 3D printing.

3D-printed customizable stents are lifesaving and reduce the costs of costly hospitalizations. They permit breathing and expand to accommodate babies’ growth during the critical period of their first 24-36 months. Now, these kids have hope for a bright future.

5: A skull for babies
Han Han, a three-year-old Chinese girl, suffered from a congenital birth defect called hydrocephalus, which caused her head to swell to four times its normal size with fluid – becoming bigger than her body could support. Doctors in China performed the world’s first full skull reconstructive surgery this past summer, successfully replacing the entire top portion of her disintegrated skull with titanium mesh implants.

This could be big news for other children with partial, missing, or deformed skulls.

These are just a few examples of how new discoveries expand the horizons of innovation, lower the costs of medical treatments, and improve our lives. Innovation and technology must be protected from burdensome regulations that hamper progress and stop advancement in medicine. Your child’s life may depend on it.