In this article, 3D Printing in Healthcare Emerging Applications in the Bio-medical industries and different organs printed are explained in detail.
Dental industry
The dental industry gains through 3D printing technologies for hospitals, implants and orthodontics. Certified dentists now have access to 3D printers and templates can be produced in a clinical environment. A CT scan is used for a defined form based on the morphology of the patient, and a missing tooth is quickly manufactured and replaced. In the production of aligners, braces, dental implants and crowns, 3D printing is applied. Dental products with 3D printing materials, such as PLA (polylactic acid), polycaprolactone ( PCL) and polyglycolide and acrylates (PGA), are made utilizing biocompatible materials. The inclusion of additives such as quaternary ammonium salts will produce dental implants with antibacterial properties. Amos Dudley an American student at 23 years old, he created his own orthodontic aligners, when he was a pupil in New Jersey College. He used institute machines for scanning and printing his teeth templates. For moulding, non-toxic plastics have been used and 12 clear aligners have been developed. Amos was able to use the Stratasys Dimension 1200 3D printer, use an alginate powder and PermaStone combination as the resin for printing the aligners that were checked on his teeth. Although it was not a simple matter, Amos proved that 3D orthodontic material for the alignment of teeth was capable of printing.
3D Printing Medical Breakthrough
Additive manufacturing in the healthcare industry has been frequently used and will continue to have an effect on scientific research in the future. Many difficulties, such as legislative issues, insufficient resources and incoherent reliability, exist. The FDA approval is needed for additive manufacturing of biomedical products in the recent years that may be lengthy and difficult to achieve. In order to achieve high quality, high-performing additive manufactured products, biocompatibility materials will require the new development and new techniques. In addition, additive production materials mechanical properties need to be well assessed to allow reliable and reproducible compliance with the ultimate characteristics. The work in this field would be exciting to even further advancement with on-demand and patient-specific application areas. For instance it can contribute to rapid outcomes by designing patient-specific implants following a CT scan. Complex components with superior mechanical and biocompatible properties may be manufactured upon request and, where needed with multifunction’s. Additive Manufacturing R&D can help improve bio-printed tissue and scaffolding in clinical applications in order to reduce the tissue engineering costs. The field of 3D printing for biomedical applications will be revolutionized with the manufacture of additive artificial organ, which includes multifunctional features ( Ex. bionic ear developed at Princeton and Johns Hopkins University, USA).
