Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing refers to a number of manufacturing technologies that generate a physical model from digital information. Medical 3D printing was once an ambitious pipe dream. However, time and investment made it real. Nowadays, the 3D printing technology represents a big opportunity to help pharmaceutical and medical companies to create more specific drugs, enabling a rapid production of medical implants, and changing the way that doctors and surgeons plan procedures. Patient-specific 3D-printed anatomical models are becoming increasingly useful tools in today's practice of precision medicine and for personalized treatments. In the future, 3D-printed implantable organs will probably be available, reducing the waiting lists and increasing the number of lives saved. Additive manufacturing for healthcare is still very much a work in progress, but it is already applied in many different ways in medical field that, already reeling under immense pressure with regards to optimal performance and reduced costs, will stand to gain unprecedented benefits from this good-as-gold technology. The goal of this analysis is to demonstrate by a deep research of the 3D-printing applications in medical field the usefulness and drawbacks and how powerful technology it is.
Highlights
Among the different manufacturing processes that are currently adopted by the industry, the 3D printing is an additive technique
Five technical steps are required to finalize a printed model. ey include selecting the anatomical target area, the development of the 3D geometry through the processing of the medical images coming from a computed tomography (CT)/MRI scan, the optimization of the file for the physical printing, and the appropriate selection of the 3D printer and materials (Figure 1). is file represents the guidance for the subsequent printing, “slicing” that digital design model into cross sections. at “sliced” design is sent to a 3D printer, which manufactures the object by starting at the base layer and building a series of layers on top until the object is built using the raw materials that are needed for its composition
It is important to mention that 3D printing allows the reproduction of implantable custom device, but still deeper research needs to be done in order to examine the differences between the traditional and additive manufacturing in terms of mechanical and structural properties, especially fatigue limit needs to be examined further [33]
Summary
Among the different manufacturing processes that are currently adopted by the industry, the 3D printing is an additive technique. Erefore, there are nowadays materials able to close the gap between the real anatomy and the reproduced one, especially considering the soft tissue [9, 10] In this analysis, an overview of the 3D printing application in medical field is presented, highlighting the usefulness and limitations and how it could be useful for surgeons. Deeper research is still needed in order to decrease the gap between a 3D-printed anatomical model and the human structure. It is important to mention that 3D printing allows the reproduction of implantable custom device, but still deeper research needs to be done in order to examine the differences between the traditional and additive manufacturing in terms of mechanical and structural properties, especially fatigue limit needs to be examined further [33]. The 3D printing has been used in a wide range of healthcare settings including, but not limited to cardiothoracic surgery [34], cardiology [26], gastroenterology [35], neurosurgery [36], oral and
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