Nov 7 2013
The Technology House, a leading single source provider of custom plastic and metal prototypes and production parts, has used a rapid prototyping process to help re-create the face of a 2,000-year old mummy, allowing the Ohio Historical Society to learn as much as possible about the mummy’s past. The prototyping process is described on TTH’s blog.
The mummy and its coffin were donated to the Ohio Historical Society in 1926. As a way for people to identify with the mummy as a person, curators recently named her “Amunet,” which means “the hidden one.” The society wanted to find out more about her life and in this endeavor partnered with the Department of Radiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, which scanned the mummy with its state-of-the art CT scanner. The CT scan revealed that the mummy had lived a full and comfortable life, which was unusual for the time period of 830 B.C. She had a symmetrical face and very straight teeth with only one being chipped. She was 5 feet 2 inches tall and was between 35 and 45 years old when she died, apparently of natural causes.
Although the scan provided a lot of information, the curators still wanted to see Amunet’s face as it looked when she was still alive. Here is where Case Western University and The Technology house came into play. Case and TTH worked together, using the CT scan images to create a 3D CAD model of the mummy’s skull. TTH then used the CAD model in a rapid prototyping process called stereolithography (SLA) to build an accurate replica of the mummy’s skull and mandible. SLA builds such 3D replicas, or prototypes, of an object using a vat of liquid ultraviolet-curable photopolymer resin and an ultraviolet laser to form one thin layer at a time. TTH has also used SLA to build 3D prototypes of body parts for the medical industry. Doctors and surgeons use such models for practicing on new equipment, practicing for difficult surgeries, or to reduce surgical times. More information on TTH and the SLA process can be found at www.tth.com or by contacting the company at [email protected].