DataPlex engineers were hired by a small, fledgling company known as “3D Systems” that had a lab curiosity that they needed to turn into a product. DataPlex principals Harry Tarnoff, Warren Juran, Stuart Spence, Richard Harlow and David Remba all contributed to getting 3D Systems’ initial “stereolithography” products designed, built and out into the hands of customers, customers which were the first of what are now known as the “rapid prototyping” and “3D printing” markets. Read all about it here.
As part of the design effort, it was DataPlex CEO Harry Tarnoff that, against many odds, pushed stereolithography for medical applications. The result was the use of CAT scans to build models of human anatomy, get more accurate medical results while at the same time reducing the need for surgery. The premier issue of UCLA Magazine featured one such medical application:
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The caption for the cover read as follows:
Computer generated, three-dimensional models developed by N.J. Mankovich, Ph.D., UCLA Radiology, surround Thomas Faraguna, whose fractured skull was replaced by a prosthesis designed with the aid of such tools… As example of tomorrow’s high-tech, whereby an exact duplicate of a patient’s bone is created by computer-guided laser, thus insuring an exact prothesis fit before surgery.