British patient receives world's 1st 3D printed prosthetic eye

Moorfields Eye Hospital in London says one of its patients has been fitted with the world's first fully digital, 3D printed prosthetic eye.

The eye looks more realistic than traditional prosthetics and offers "clearer definition and real depth to the pupil," the hospital said. It usually takes about six weeks to develop a prosthetic eye, but the hospital said 3D printing could cut in half the turnaround time. Additionally, it's a less invasive process when dealing with 3D printing, as the patient only needs to have their eye socket scanned digitally in order to create a detailed image.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.