Kickstart: 3D printing, an octopus and small patients

I'm starting off by stepping aside and letting Erin Sloan bring you this first item.

We cover plastics in the medical field very frequently, most recently with an acquisition within the lab supply sector. But I love most when we cover toys.

So when I saw a toy designed for children with congenital heart disease to learn more about their own hearts, I wanted to share. I'm Erin Sloan, by the way, PN's audience engagement extraordinaire.

My daughter was born in 2020 with a complex, undiagnosed heart defect called pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum. Basically, where the unoxygenated blood was supposed to go to her lungs to get oxygen was closed off. She's OK now, thanks to a procedure via catheter at three days old, but her future is uncertain, with many cardiology visits, catheters and (hopefully not) heart surgery to come.

An ICU visit for her this past winter awakened a fear the now 17-month-old hadn't had previously, so I realized I need to begin the preparations to make her more comfortable with doctors and learn about her heart. Where do I even start?

The University of Minnesota Medical School partnered with its College of Design to create a toy for teaching kids about CHD.

The team developed a plush octopus with a removable 3D printed heart to serve as a companion animal and teaching tool. There's also an app involved so kids can give checkups to their Octo and learn more about cardiovascular function.

Why an octopus? They're sort of the unofficial mascot for CHD kids because they have three hearts!

Undergraduate student Levi Skelton said, "I think designers have a lot to bring to the medical field, especially for children."

There's definitely a space out there for child-friendly tools for learning about their medical conditions, and I'm glad to see someone else thinking about this so maybe I won't have so many sleepless nights worrying.

OK, I'm back.

When Avient Corp. laid out the details and benefits of its pending purchase of Royal DSM's Protective Materials business on April 20, a lot of the conversation focused on DSM's Dyneema, an ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene that is the strongest human-made fiber in the world.

Dyneema is also becoming a trade name that is known outside the plastics industry, much like Kevlar, a material it's often compared with. Outdoor gear companies boast that their tents and backpacks are made with Dyneema. Dyneema is marketed for marine ropes and protective armor for military and emergency responders.

Will that brand name recognition be worth more for Avient in the long run? I wouldn't be surprised.

You may have seen news the past few days about a Japanese company making guitar picks from plant-based resin.

But have you seen the company band's music videos?

Nishibata Blow Industry Co. in Fukui, Japan, is a blow molder of packaging and other items. It worked with material supplier Nequas Co. in Awara to develop the Zero, which the companies say is the first guitar pick made from bio-based resin.

Nishibata's house band helped with the development. The Westend was created from music-loving staff members seven years ago. Members include the firm's president, administrative workers, department heads and section heads.

It has played for company events and local festivals and posted its videos to YouTube, where you can check them out. There's a video that also serves as a promotion for the company and others highlighting the band's sessions in the warehouse.