3D Printing: Medical Applications

By Ashish Singh Dhanjal|Updated : August 14th, 2020

Hi Gradians,

Hope you are effectively and efficiently utilizing this "Stay at Home" period.

Earlier to this article, I have previously covered some basics about what actually 3D printing is and various applications of 3D printing. In that, i have also discussed about 3D Construction Printing in detail.

Overview in Medical Field:

  • 3D Printing has a variety of applications among which the most superior is its Medical Applications.
  • 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) was firstly developed in 1980s.
  • 3D printing have a huge impact on various markets, specially on medical sector. Medical practices have changed a lot over the years and today a lot of technology is involved.
  • There is limited amount of staff nowadays, i.e two to three surgeons, an anesthesiologist, couple of nurses, a technician and actually there are more screens than medical staff today. Doctors and surgeons are very careful about introducing new technology but with 3D printing a lot is happening.
  • 3D printing is a technology in which a 3D file is first sliced into thousands, lakhs of 2D slices and then interpreted by the technology itself and then reproduced layer by layer. A variety of materials like ceramics, metals, polymers, plastics etc can be used to create a highly complex object.
  • The product can be completely customized according to the requirement and this customization feature has a huge impact in medical industry. This helps in creating patient-specific products.

Examples:

  • For example: 96% of the hearing aids that are produced worldwide are produced by 3D printing. It represents about 10 million parts per year.

 Hearing Aids produced by 3D printing

The material used is liquid resin and it has to be cleaned afterwards and then it is transferred to the specialist and it is fully patient specific as if you will notice people all around you, you will see different people as we all are different individuals just some exceptions like twins.

  • Another example is 3D printing has enabled the reduction of surgery time. Approximately, the surgery time has been reduced from 97 to 23 hours. This is an amazing feature of 3D printing as it will also help surgeons to concentrate for 23 hours as compared to initially 97 hours and also 3D printing provided easier solution to complex surgeries. It helped suregons what tools can be used for complex surgeries and from where to make cuts. By this technology, surgeons are able to rehearse the operation before the actual operation and this is very beneficial for saving lives.
  • 3D printed of bones is also carried out at several like in various bone cancers, the bones can be replaced by 3D printed bones and also in cases of severe accidents, the broken bones can be replaced by 3D printed bones and that too they are patient specific. It matches exactly the functions and the weight of the previous bone. Also, these bones can be printed in any material be it be gold, titanium, polymer etc. The patient is inserted in a CT scanner and from the CT scanner we can obtain 2D files of the bones and the soft tissues and by retrieving that information, the 3D bone is recreated progressively. 

byjusexamprep

Advancements:

  • Currently the scientists are working on bioprinting or it can be called as organ printing. The basic idea is to use patient's own stem cells and combine them with growth factors and construct them for example a biodegradable polymeric scaffold in order to recreate organs.
  • The researchers from University of Minnesota have developed a novel-bio ink, which enables to create a functional 3D printed beating human heart.
  • The global 3D Bioprinting Industry continues explosive growth by 2025 according to researchers.
  • Keith Murphy, CEO of Viscient Biosciences have discussed the process of developing a 3D Bioprinted tissue model and their potential in developing therapeutics for Covid-19 and other diseases.             

 

Stay tuned to BYJU'S Exam Prep for more Technology articles.

Hope you all find this article useful do share your feedback in comment box. We aim to have atleast 40 upvotes for this amazing technology, so appreciation from you all will motivate us to post more interesting content.

(Share with friends and Comment below if you have any doubt or query regarding the article or if you want any article of your choice)

Thanks

The Most Comprehensive Exam Prep App. Stay Safe

Comments

write a comment

Follow us for latest updates