By Whitney Hipolite
When most people hear the phrases “additive manufacturing” or “3D printing”, they usually picture the technology being put to use in large factories, creating prototypes, or in someone’s garage who’s making little plastic trinkets. However, as of late, 3D printing has been gaining ground within the medical field, as doctors and surgeons are really beginning to understand the potential that it has in creating prostheses.
For one 27-year-old Chinese woman, named Li Jieyang, 3D printing literally saved her left arm. It all started one day last year when Li began suffering from pain in her shoulder. She brushed it off as a simple sprain, even though the swelling and inflamation just continued to worsen. 
Li lived with the tumor for over 6-months and had been experiencing pain for over 2-months before some of her relatives decided to take action. After much suffering, and realizing that her pain wasn’t getting any better, Li’s family decided to take her to The Second People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, where she was thoroughly examined, using CT scans, MRIs and other various tests. To her surprise and discouragement, Li was told that she had a very large and aggressive tumor on her left scapula.
The tumor that Li was suffering from was very invasive, and it had eaten away 75% of her scapula bone. Typically surgeries to remove such a tumor and then replace the deteriorated bone are extremely difficult, if not impossible. Many patients in Li’s condition would have previously faced the potential of having their entire shoulder and perhaps even arm removed.