Here are 600 ways that 3D printing is changing the world

A bank of 3D printers were on display at the exhibition building models of people scanned at the museum.

Each figurine takes roughly one hour to print, but the time can vary depending on the level of detail reproduced on the finished object.

The level of detail can be adjusted by altering the thickness of the layer of the model printed out, generally the thinner layer the greater the detail and the longer the model will take to print out.

This machine is a first generation Ultimaker 3D printer, a roughly $1,000 FDM machine that prints in one colour, similar to many other machines aimed at the home market.

Common uses of home 3D printers include creating bespoke items such as phone cases and customising toys for children.

While demoing the Ultimaker at the exhibit a model print had to be abandoned after the half-printed model came loose from the base, a problem that originated from how the print job had been set up. 3D printers need to become as simple as 2D printers to set up and use if they are to gain mainstream acceptance, according to 3D Printshow's Masters.

"For a paper printer you shove in a print cartridge and off you go," he said.

"For a 3D printer there is a certain amount of parameter tweaking, a certain amount of skill that is required to get the best quality out of the machine."

3D printed drugs anyone? The feasibility of making pills using a 3D printer is being studied by a research group at the University of Nottingham in England.

Printing pills could allow doctors to tailor the pharmaceutical make-up of each capsule to individual patients, as well as adding additional beneficial properties, for example applying a coating that would delay the release of a drug for a specific period.

3D printers have also been used to create a scaffold for bone to grow to upon when treating hospital patients.

Professor Dietmar Hutmacher from the University of Queensland in Australia used 3D printing to help repair a hole in a nine year old girl's skull.

The professor took a 3D scan of the girl's skull and used it to design a 3D scaffold that could be placed in the missing piece of her skull.

Inside the scaffold was a precise network of channels that could hold bone cells and allow new tissue to grow. The scaffold was printed using biodegradable materials, which meant after three years it dissolved, leaving new healthy bone that filled in the hole in her skull.

This stainless steel car engine part was created using a laser-sintering 3D printer.

While laser sintering printers are currently one of the priciest variety of 3D fabricators available, they also reduce waste as any unused metal powder can be reused.

This satellite sensor was produced by printing electrical circuits using metal inks.

Printing sensors directly into a satellite's structure saves a lot of room, according to the team that made the sensor from the University of Texas.

The technique may one day provide a reliable way to print out electronic gadets, by printing out circuits inside their casing, said Ryan Wicker, mechanical engineering professor at the university.

The sensor is being sent into orbit for testing in the harsh environment of space, where satellites are subjected to extremes of temperature and heavy doses of solar radiation.

One of the more contentious uses of 3D printers is to produce weaponry.

This is a gun that was printed out by a Finnish journalist, who downloaded a design freely available on the internet, printed out the pistol, dubbed the 'Liberator', and fired it.

The bullet fired straight down the range but the gun broke into four pieces.

Debate is currently taking place over how to best regulate people's ability to produce weapons using 3D printers.

After South African carpenter Richard Van As lost his fingers in an accident he decided to create a low-cost prosthetic hand for people without fingers.

Dubbed Robohand, the hand was designed by Richard working with a designer based on the other side of the world in Seattle.

The hand is printed out of PLA plastic resin using a MakerBot machine and combined with cables and screws to make the finished prosthesis. It is designed to be worn on the hand and to grasp its fingers the user folds their wrist. The design for the hand is freely available online, allowing anyone with a 3D printer and a few additional parts to build their own version.

This 3D printed titanium lattice has been designed to protect probes in future missions to Mars.

The protection is designed for probes that are intended to collect samples from the Martian surface and then return to Earth. The lattice crush zones are designed to absorb the impact of the probe upon crash landing on the Earth's surface.

The protective lattice has been designed by the UK-based Manufacturing Technology Council.

This is a mock design of a robotic arm that would relay a sense of touch and temperature to its owner.

The arm is the work of a team at the University of Nottingham in England, which is investigating how it could use 3D printers to build electrical, optical and even biological functions into the arm.

This rather odd looking creation is the embodiment of the MRI scan of the artist who produced it.

Named Inverse Embodiment, it mixes data from the MRI scan of the artist Tobias Klein and the structure of St Paul's Cathedral in London.

A collection of 3D printed figurines of people who have been scanned at the London Science Museum.

3D printing is also used to produce dental implants, as seen here, orthotics and joint implants.