Medical Applications for 3D Printing

3D printing has been used broadly in orthopedics, enabling tens of thousands of people to recover mobility with orthopedic knee and hip implants each year. Due to its high strength and low density, titanium is one of the most frequently used metals in human implants.

FREMONT, CA: The 3D printing sector is projected to grow to approximately $6 billion by 2024, according to the 3D. Prosthetics, knee and hip replacements, and other implants, medicines, tissue, and hearing aids are anticipated to drive 3D printed products in biotech and life sciences.

Prosthetics

Prosthetics served as the first practical use of 3D printing in the medical field starting 11 years ago. Today, the applications of technology have made exceptional progress. The present 3D printed patient-specific prostheses help people with genetic deformities or are missing limbs to lead every day and productive lives.

Implants

3D printing has been used broadly in orthopedics, enabling tens of thousands of people to recover mobility with orthopedic knee and hip implants each year. Due to its high strength and low density, titanium is one of the most frequently used metals in human implants.

Organs, Tissues, Bones, Muscle, and Skin

There have been tremendous developments in 3D printing technologies for various human tissues, bones, organs, muscle, and skin. Nowadays, bones are routinely 3D printed from CT or MRI scans. For instance, total talus replacements with a 3D printed metal talus bone aides patients in avoiding amputation of the foot or loss of ankle-foot movement.

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There are challenges to printing complex human organs such as the heart and the brain and soft tissues like the uterus. Complex structures and organs are at present being 3D printed for medical research purposes. For instance, researchers have been able to 3D print a placenta on a chip, with tiny cell cultures imitating the placenta's structure and function, which is one of the least understood organs in the human body.

Medical Research

The 3D printing technologies, particularly the latest progressions in delicate direct cell printing, help their use in medical research–for drug and therapy growth, toxicity testing, and accelerate the research process. One instance is using 3D printing to create organs and tissues to study how they are affected by cancer and other diseases. The technology also improves collaboration between physicians and researchers, now that the physical objects can be shared through the internet as 3D printing instructions.