Image(s) of the day: 3D printed developing fetuses are both creepy and cute

 A remarkable number of obscure items are constructed with 3D printers: desserts, pizza, vehicles, robots, and prosthetic limbs to name but a few. But now, one company wants to 3D print your baby before it’s even born. Perhaps catering to the audience of people who collect umbilical cords as family keepsakes or want to tangibly immortalize memories, 3D Babies uses 3D/4D ultrasound images and modeling software to sculpt and 3D print a statuette of your unborn baby.

3D ultrasound reveals your baby in color

The figurine is as based on the images provided with artistic rendition thrown in for good measure, or to fill in the blanks. “We create an adorable baby figurine resembling your baby's facial features and body position,” says the company, but allows customers to select from one of three skin tones ranging from light, medium or dark or whether or not to the genitals are visible. Models come in eight, four, or two inch length sizes. The eight-inch life size appropriately matches a 23-24 week old fetus for a whopping $800, but if mailing your grandparents a model is your goal, the $400 four inch or $200 two inch is more postal friendly.

It is not clear on the 3D babies' website what printer resolution or material they use.

Advancements in ultrasound technology yielding 3D images of fetuses made it only a matter of time before an entrepreneur decided to capitalize on this pairing, yet 3D babies is not the first, giving customers options. The Japanese firm Fasotect and Hiroo Ladies Clinic launched a similar product modeled after CT or MRI scans of the mother’s womb almost a year prior. However, Fasotect’s rendition is a bit more of a “preserved animal in a jar,” compared to 3D babies’ “porcelain-looking” sculpture.

via gizmag