Scanning
Scanning of objects is useful if you want to reverse engineer a product/model to create a virtual one or if you work in the medical sector.
SCANNING FOR FORENSICS
Speed and ease of use are the key drivers for 3D scanning in forensics and facial reconstruction.
Caroline Needham, Research Assistant in Forensic and Medical Art, explained: “We adopted digital technology largely because of the positive results we got when we began using SensAble FreeForm software. It enabled us to sculpt a reconstruction of Bach’s face. We also realised that digital methods are completely non invasive. This aspect becomes very significant when the remains you are dealing with are in poor condition.”
SCANNING THE PAST
Archaeologists, palaeontologists and biologists have all sought help from Virtalis to use 3D scanning to provide them with an extra dimension.
Dr. Bill Sellers, Integrative Vertebrate Biologist in the Life Sciences Department at The University of Manchester, explained: “We are scanning the bones of dinosaurs and early species of man using the FastSCAN and building up detailed digital models of their skeletons.”
SCANNING FOR PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS
Laser scanners provide patients with highly accurate, well fitting devices, as well as significant improvements in comfort, convenience and time savings. The scans are accurate to within one millimetre and the three-dimensional feature gives detailed surface information often lost with a cast or mechanical digitizer. The data forms a permanent patient record that allows for rapid refitting and adjustments, the justification of medical necessity for a new device and better patient/physician information exchange.
One leading UK orthotist commented: "The FastSCAN makes treatment of plagiocephaly straightforward. We merely scan the head, modify the model to give normal symmetry and then make a polypropylene plastic helmet that features a void behind the flat area. We find that the head then develops normally. Although I originally bought the FastSCAN for this procedure alone, it quickly became apparent that it is just as useful in treatment of other conditions."
