China Funeral Home Uses 3D Printing for Damaged Body Parts of Corpses

In China, it is considered common practice to mend corpses with damaged body parts using wax. Lately, however, a new technology has been introduced in the country.

The Longhua funeral home in Shanghai, China is now using a 3D printer to recreate the damaged body parts of corpses to prepare them for burial. This is being offered to families of deceased individuals who may have died with noticeable facial damage, such as in a vehicular accident or other incidents. With this approach, the deceased person can again look normal or even younger than they did when they were alive.

With the use of 3D printing tech, a damaged nose, for example, can be recreated for a corpse.

A new nose, for example, can be created out of the 3D printer. The technology produces several layers of material which can then be fitted into any size or shape required by the client.

The 3D printed body part will be based on the 2D photo of the deceased individual.

Moreover, the 3D print will be based on a 2D photo of the deceased person and so it will look really accurate. In fact, the funeral home explains it can be as close as 95% to the original likeness.

This allows family members to see the bodies of their deceased loved ones without any damaged or missing parts.

Liu Fengming, director of Shanghai’s funeral services center, said:

“It is difficult for relatives to see incomplete faces or bodies of their loved ones when they attend memorial services, and makeup cannot always sufficiently repair them.”

Apparently, the cost of facial recreation via 3D printing technology will cost somewhere around $617 to $770.