Heard about 3-D printing? While it’s easy to dismiss it as another technological trend, in the field of medicine at least, it has the potential to make history.

A 3-D printer is not unlike an inkjet printer; you print a design from a computer, except instead of using ink, a 3-D printer layers other materials — such as plastic or metal — to build a three-dimensional object.

But the reason 3-D printing is truly groundbreaking is that it’s leading to innovations in many areas while being surprisingly fast and inexpensive.

For example, prosthetic limbs often cost thousands of dollars and require numerous fittings per individual. With 3-D printing, however, a scan of a specific patient’s anatomy results in a nearly perfect prosthetic that can be printed in a matter of hours for essentially the cost of materials. This technology is already having an impact in developing countries such as Uganda, which have a shortage of trained prosthetic technicians.

Prosthetics are also challenging when it comes to children, who quickly outgrow the expensive devices. But a recent influx of durable, inexpensive 3-D-printed prosthetic designs could be a game-changer. Even animal patients have been helped using 3-D printed prosthetics, including a dog born with deformed front legs and an eagle with a mutilated beak.

3-D printers are also being used to create artificial bones to replace those that are missing or damaged, including jawbones, pieces of skull and spinal cord. By scanning a patient, doctors are able to print the exact shape they need. Some surgeons even use 3-D models to practice complex surgical procedures ahead of time.

So the next time your printer jams, try to remember the revolutionary technology it helped inspire.