Types Of 3D Printing Technologies Research Articles

Progress in adoptable materials in 3D bioprinting technology for organ and tissue regenerative engineering

Bioprinting is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field of research where design engineering, materials science, precision of automation engineering, and biology are integrated with biological systems for a medical purpose. Through multidisciplinary research, devoted efforts in this sector have advanced this technology to newer frontiers, giving many fresh materials and approaches to reproduce the complex microenvironment required by cells to promote their growth, migration, and differentiation. This article articulates the process of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting by providing a breakdown of all the processes involved, with a prognosis of a positive future for this technology. In this review article, brief insights into different types of 3D printing technologies have been provided, along with the limitations and advantages they confer. A comparative rundown on the available bio-inks and their ideal usage in the various 3D printing modules is highlighted. Finally, the futuristic concept of integrated organ printing (IOP), together with the view of futuristic technology of four-dimensional (4D) technology, is explained with its recent advances and the current hurdles that need to be overcome to see the full glory of the novel technology of bioprinting.

Research and analysis on key issues of 3D printing human bones

Bone repair surgery is a highly challenging surgical procedure, requiring not only the technical skills of experienced surgeons, but also the suitability of bone materials for individual patients. Additionally, the patient's recovery process plays an important role in the success of the surgery. To address these challenges, various types of 3D printing technologies have been developed, with a focus on material selection and structural analysis. In this study, the authors analyse and summarize different materials and printing structures used in 3D printed bones, as well as the application of this technology in clinical medicine. They also identify key challenges that need to be addressed and provide a vision for the future development and prospects of 3D printed bone technology. With further advancements and refinements in 3D printing technology, we can expect this technique to play an increasingly important role in bone repair surgeries, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and quality of life.

Efficacy of 3D-printed customized titanium implants and its clinical validation in foot and ankle surgery

 In foot and ankle surgery, internal fixation was crucial to maintain the stability of bony structure, and bone grafting material is commonly used to treat bone defects. With rapid development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, new advances were made in these two aspects. In this study, digital image correlation method (DICM) data of the patient’s ankle via computed tomography (CT) examination were obtained and imported into a series of software. The engineer cooperated with the surgeon to design the customized implants. Ti-6Al-4V spherical metal powder was chosen as raw material and fused together by selective electron beam melting (SEBM), a type of 3D printing technology, to prepare the implant. The implants were sterilized with ethylene oxide. The customized 3D-printed implants were successfully utilized in tibiotalocalcaneal (TTC) arthrodesis to maintain the bony structures at the functional position. In another case, the 3D-printed fusion cage was applied in subtalar arthrodesis to treat bone defects. In these clinical cases, 3D-printed customized titanium implants helped improve the surgical operation flow, and no obvious tissue reaction was observed. The successful implementation suggested that the application of 3D printing technology to prepare customized titanium implants would play an important role in future foot and ankle surgery.

Accuracy of 3D printed spine models for pre-surgical planning of complex adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) in spinal surgeries: a case series

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a noticeable spinal deformity in both adult and adolescent population. In majority of the cases, the gold standard of treatment is surgical intervention. Technological advancements in medical imaging and 3D printing have revolutionised the surgical planning and intraoperative decision making for surgeons in spinal surgery. However, its applicability for planning complex spinal surgeries is poorly documented with human subjects. The objective of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of 3D printed models for complex spinal deformities based on Cobb angles between 40° to 95°.This is a retrospective cohort study where, five CT scans of the patients with AIS were segmented and 3D printed for evaluating the accuracy. Consideration was given to the Inter-patient and acquisition apparatus variability of the CT-scan dataset to understand the effect on trueness and accuracy of the developed CAD models. The developed anatomical models were re-scanned for analysing quantitative surface deviation to assess the accuracy of 3D printed spinal models. Results show that the average of the root mean square error (RMSE) between the 3DP models and virtual models developed using CT scan of mean surface deviations for the five 3d printed models was found to be 0.5±0.07 mm. Based on the RMSE, it can be concluded that 3D printing based workflow is accurate enough to be used for presurgical planning for complex adolescent spinal deformities. Image acquisition and post processing parameters, type of 3D printing technology plays key role in acquiring required accuracy for surgical applications.

3D Printer

Digital fabrication technology, also referred to as 3D printing or additive manufacturing, creates physical objects from a geometrical representation by successive addition of materials. 3D printing technology is a fast-emerging technology. Nowadays, 3D printing is widely used in the world. 3D printing technology has been increasingly used for the mass customization, production of any types of open-source designs in the field of agriculture, in healthcare, automotive industry, locomotive industry and aviation industries. 3D printing technology can print an object via layer-by-layer deposition of material directly from Computer Aided Design (CAD) model. This paper presents an overview of the types of 3D printing technologies, the application of 3D printing technology, and the materials used for 3D printing technology in the manufacturing industry.

Fretting wear behavior of Inconel 718 alloy manufactured by DED and treated by UNSM

Alloy 718 is commonly used in the maritime and aerospace industries due to its strength and durability, particularly in engine rotating components such as disks, fan blades, and high-pressure compressors. As a new type of 3D printing technology, directed energy deposition (DED) can employ lasers to melt metal powders or wires to fabricate arbitrary-shaped workpieces directly from customized data, thereby making machining more synergistic and intuitive. However, the surface properties of the DED-printed alloy 718 samples, such as surface roughness and wear resistance, are typically subpar. By introducing severe plastic deformation to the near-surface, ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) can be used as a post-processing method and results in altered properties. The uniaxial tensile test reveals that the UNSM-treated alloy 718 exhibits a higher mechanical property. Moreover, using a fretting test rig in accordance with the cylinder-on-plane agreement, a higher wear resistance for UNSM-treated alloy 718 is observed. This study employs the finite element method to fully comprehend the effect of UNSM on wear performance. The fretting wear process of Inconel 718 alloy is established using an energy-based finite element model. Considering the severe practical scenarios, the Johnson–Cook constitutive model is implemented, with the linear isotropic hardening model capturing the plastic behavior. In comparison to experimental measurements, the finite element results demonstrate unprecedented wear loss consistency with an error of less than 2%. Therefore, we conclude that the finite element model built in this study exhibits a high accuracy and can be used to analyze the effect of UNSM on fretting wear behavior. According to finite element analysis, as the normal load increases, the improvement in wear resistance induced by UNSM decreases. Given that the finite element model is based on the energy method, the effects of coefficient of friction (COF) and wear coefficient modified by UNSM are investigated separately. According to the findings, the UNSM-modified COF and wear coefficient play a significant role in determining the wear characteristics. Due to the removal of a substantial amount of material from the central area of the alloy 718 surface by wear, it is also possible to observe that severe plastic strains are primarily concentrated at the edges of the wear scars.

Three-Dimensional Printing Technologies for Drug Delivery Applications: Processes, Materials, and Effects.

Since the 1930s, new methods of drug delivery, such as implantable devices with drug release control, have been developed. However, manufacturing techniques require bulk due to high initial production costs. Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing or rapid prototyping, allows the fabrication of personalized drug delivery that uses different materials and complex geometries with multiple release profiles, thereby eradicating high initial costs. Different studies have been developed showing the extensive potential of 3D printing for the pharmaceutical industry, and despite in-depth discussions that have been published, there is no comprehensive review of processes, materials, and effects in drug delivery applications thus far. This review aims to fill this gap by presenting the use of 3D printing technology for drug delivery, exposing the different variations of the technique according to the characteristics, material, and dosage form sought. There are seven main categories of 3D printing according to the standards jointly developed by International Organization for Standardization and American Society for Testing and Materials: material jetting, binder jetting, material extrusion, vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination, and directed energy deposition. There are different 3D fabrication processes used for drug delivery applications depending on the dosage form and material applied. In this context, polymers, glasses, and hydrogels represent the most frequent materials used. 3D printing allows different forms of drug dosage. Oral, topical, rectal and vaginal, parental and implantable are discussed in this paper, presenting the identification of the type of 3D printing technology, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, formulation, and pharmaceutical effect. The main aim of this paper is to offer insights to people from academy and industry who are interested in the advancement of drug delivery and in knowing the future directions in the development of 3D printing applications in this area.

Evaluation of the possibilities of 3D-printing for the making of waveguide photonic crystals

The paper considers the possibilities of 3D printing technology for the manufacture of X-band waveguide photonic crystals. The photonic crystals for an EIA WR-90 standard rectangular waveguide with a cross section of 22,86 10,16 mm2 in the X-band were designed and manufactured. Numerical modeling of the reflection characteristics of photonic crystals of several designs in the OpenEMS software package was carried out. Based on the simulation results, the best types of the structures were selected, which were manufactured using the physical modeling technique by the fusion method of PETG plastic. Experimental study of the manufactured layouts and comparison of the experimental data with the numerical simulation data were performed. The best types of manufactured models of waveguide photonic crystals showed transmittance and reflection drop in the corresponding frequency bands of the order of 1520 dB, which is acceptable for technical applications. The numerical modeling results are in good agreement with experiments, thus indicating the high efficiency and good control of the topology and dimensions of the manufactured photonic crystals structural elements in the used type of 3D printing technology.

Selection of Additive Manufacturing Machine Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) is considered to be the most important technology among the emerging technologies. 3D printing technology is considered as an alternative to the conventional manufacturer machine traditionally used in the manufacturing sector. 3D printing technology is generally classified into seven types. Each type of 3D printing technology has its separate own uniqueness (i.e., operation, material usage, and no wastage). The price of a manufactured item includes all its costs. The most important of these is to take into account the price of the machine being manufactured and the features of the machine. Moreover, the price of the product produced in AM will depend on all the costs required to produce it. Then, it is possible to reduce the cost of the product by choosing the AMM that has significant features and the right price. Therefore, this paper aims to solve a decision-making problem from the AMM selection by using one of the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) tools, i.e., analytical hierarchy process (AHP). This paper outcome is meant to meet the expectation of end-users. As an initial step, the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) company gets quotations from some AM companies to choose a type of AM machine known FDM for its structure product and doll product. The first step is to select the most appropriate machines based on cost, size/volume, extruder type, and weight of the machine. Criteria for AHP are derived from decision-makers. Also, in AHP, the pair-wise matrix is obtained from the decision-makers by answering the standard Saaty’s scale criteria questions. In this paper, such a selection method is explored. The outcome of this paper may vary depending on the expectations of the decision-makers. The end of this paper helps to choose the AMM with the right price and features to suit the decision-makers.

Additive manufacturing technologies: Industrial and medical applications

3D printing is increasingly becoming an important technology in the manufacturing sector and has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing. 3D printing allows customization, which produces sophisticated structures while lowering waste and at the same time allowing more flexibility in the design. This paper includes a brief overview of the main types of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. It reviews the work carried out in various types of 3D printing technologies particularly focusing on mechanical characterization. Based on the literature studied, comparisons have been drawn on the various merits and challenges offered by various 3D printed materials. Dedicated sections on various materials aspects and application areas have been included particularly from a medical science point of view. This paper ends with a dedicated section on applications of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in orthopedic, dental, prosthetics, food and textile sectors. It tries to establish relationships between AM, industry 4.0 and sustainability. This paper shall act as a stimulant to trigger further advancements in the above fields.

Current perspectives of 3d printing in dental applications

Objective: To evaluate the applications of 3d printing /additive manufacturing (AM) in dental education & clinical dentistry and elaborate various 3d printing technologies, its benefits, limitations and future scope. Methods: Research papers on the application of 3d printing in dentistry were searched in Scopus and Pubmed and studied using bibliometric analysis.  This review briefly describes various types of 3d printing technologies with their accuracy, use of different materials for 3d printing and their respective dental applications. It also discusses various steps used to create 3D printed dental model using this technology. Furthermore, the application of this technology in dental education and various clinical procedures are discussed.  Results: 3d printing is an innovative technology making a paradigm shift towards treatment customization. It helps in customized production of dental implants, surgical guides, anatomic models etc. using computer-aided design (CAD) data. This technology coupled with state-of-the-art imaging techniques and CAD software has enabled, especially oral surgeons to precisely plan and execute complex surgeries with relative ease, high accuracy and lesser time. 3d printing is also being utilized in other disciplines of dentistry to prepare aligners, crown and bridge, endodontic guides, periodontal surgery guides, surgical models for treatment planning and patient education. Alongside its possibilities have also been explored in preclinical skills in operative, endodontics etc.    KEYWORDS  3D printing; Additive manufacturing; Dental applications of 3d printing.

Physicochemical parameters that underlie inkjet printing for medical applications.

One of the most common types of 3D printing technologies is inkjet printing due to its numerous advantages, including low cost, programmability, high resolution, throughput, and speed. Inkjet printers are also capable of fabricating artificial tissues with physiological characteristics similar to those of living tissues. These artificial tissues are used for disease modeling, drug discovery, drug screening, and replacements for diseased or damaged tissues. This paper reviews recent advancements in one of the most common 3D printing technologies, inkjet dispensing. We briefly consider common printing techniques, including fused deposition modeling (FDM), stereolithography (STL), and inkjet printing. We briefly discuss various steps in inkjet printing, including droplet generation, droplet ejection, interaction of droplets on substrates, drying, and solidification. We also discuss various parameters that affect the printing process, including ink properties (e.g., viscosity and surface tension), physical parameters (e.g., internal diameter of printheads), and actuation mechanisms (e.g., piezoelectric actuation and thermal actuation). Through better understanding of common 3D printing technologies and the parameters that influence the printing processes, new types of artificial tissues, disease models, and structures for drug discovery and drug screening may be prepared. This review considers future directions in inkjet printing research that are focused on enhancing the resolution, printability, and uniformity of printed structures.

Generating Convergent Laguerre-Gaussian Beams Based on an Arrayed Convex Spiral Phaser Fabricated by 3D Printing.

A convex spiral phaser array (CSPA) is designed and fabricated to generate typical convergent Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams. A type of 3D printing technology based on the two-photon absorption effect is used to make the CSPAs with different featured sizes, which present a structural integrity and fabricating accuracy of ~200 nm according to the surface topography measurements. The light field vortex characteristics of the CSPAs are evaluated through illuminating them by lasers with different central wavelength such as 450 nm, 530 nm and 650 nm. It should be noted that the arrayed light fields out from the CSPA are all changed from a clockwise vortex orientation to a circular distribution at the focal plane and then a counterclockwise vortex orientation. The circular light field is distributed 380–400 μm away from the CSPA, which is close to the 370 μm of the focal plane design. The convergent LG beams can be effectively shaped by the CASPs produced.

3D Printing Technologies: Recent Development and Emerging Applications in Various Drug Delivery Systems.

The 3D printing is considered as an emerging digitized technology that could act as a key driving factor for the future advancement and precise manufacturing of personalized dosage forms, regenerative medicine, prosthesis and implantable medical devices. Tailoring the size, shape and drug release profile from various drug delivery systems can be beneficial for special populations such as paediatrics, pregnant women and geriatrics with unique or changing medical needs. This review summarizes various types of 3D printing technologies with advantages and limitations particularly in the area of pharmaceutical research. The applications of 3D printing in tablets, films, liquids, gastroretentive, colon, transdermal and intrauterine drug delivery systems as well as medical devices have been briefed. Due to the novelty and distinct features, 3D printing has the inherent capacity to solve many formulation and drug delivery challenges, which are frequently associated with poorly aqueous soluble drugs. Recent approval of Spritam® and publication of USFDA technical guidance on additive manufacturing related to medical devices has led to an extensive research in various field of drug delivery systems and bioengineering. The 3D printing technology could be successfully implemented from pre-clinical phase to first-in-human trials as well as on-site production of customized formulation at the point of care having excellent dose flexibility. Advent of innovative 3D printing machineries with built-in flexibility and quality with the introduction of new regulatory guidelines would rapidly integrate and revolutionize conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.

Capability of 3D Printing Technology in Producing Molar Teeth Prototype

3D printing technology is used to build a prototype of thirty molar teeth. Additive manufacturing has referred to solid free-form manufacturing, computer automated manufacturing, and layered manufacturing. In addition, RP models can be utilized for testing such as when to evaluate the precision of development of molar teeth. Meanwhile, reverse engineering technology is to scan the image data of thirty original teeth to form a high-resolution 3D surface data. Lately, the application of 3D printing technology in orthodontic practices is increasing. However, before introducing 3D printing technology to new areas of orthodontics, its accuracy and how the technology can be used need to be evaluated. The thirty extracted molar teeth were selected as a sample of the study. The stereolithography files of thirty teeth were converted into physical models using two types of 3D printing technologies which are powder base (Project 460plus) and liquid based (Project HD3500). The result of this study is to measure the capability of powder and liquid based Rapid Prototyping technology by using the paired t-test. The analysis will create an alpha which is the significant level for each parameter. Otherwise, the null hypothesis is attempted to find evidence against in hypothesis test. A small enough p-value which is p<0.05 that is lower than level of significant alpha was found and justified the rejection of the null hypothesis. Lastly, the aim of this paper is to verify that powder and liquid based 3D printing technologies are accurate to be used in orthodontic application.

Recent Progress of Direct Ink Writing of Electronic Components for Advanced Wearable Devices

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been recognized as an emerging advanced fabrication technology in both industry and academia. Direct ink writing (DIW), a type of 3D printing technology, can build 3D structures through the deposition of custom-made inks, printing devices with complex architectures, excellent mechanical properties, and enhanced functionalities. DIW can greatly facilitate the fabrication of miniaturized or flexible electronic components. These components are potentially useful for their applications in advanced wearable devices. This article highlights recent advancements in 3D direct ink written electronic components with an emphasis on their potential applications for wearable devices. The relationship among ink formulations, DIW techniques, and printed devices is highlighted. In particular, the DIW-assisted fabrication of key components in wearable electronics, including power generation (nanogenerators), energy storage (e.g., lithium ion batteries), and energy consuming products (e.g., strain sensors) are reviewed in terms of performance metrics and fabrication strategies. Optimized ink preparations, evolving DIW techniques, and device designs can work synergistically to enhance the development of printed advanced wearable devices.

The Specifics of Cartographic Semiology in Tactile Maps

Abstract. Spatial information became ordinary for everyday life, for example in different kinds of maps. The majority of maps are produced for reading with eyes. Nevertheless, people with visual impairment, including blind people, perceive the world differently and have an insufficient amount of possible ways how to investigate the surroundings.Creating a tactile map for people with visual impairment and blind people is conceptually different, more expensive and more difficult comparing to normal maps. This is why researches in cartography focus the question how spatial information can be effectively presented to visually impaired people using modern technologies.One of the solutions seems to be progress in modern 3D tactile-cartography linkable to the mobile device, such as smartphones and tablets. The modern mobile technologies with the internet connection and GNSS navigation brought new possibilities how to convert spatial information into voice quickly. Navigations use vibrations to provide the actual information, and other technologies help to make the 3D presentations of the geospace more accessible.At the Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia, several tactile maps were produced under the leadership of Vit Vozenilek, both interactive and non-interactive ones.Cartographic semiology deals with a theory of cartographic symbols and their use. This theory is based primarily on the general semiology (the science of symbols), theoretical cartography, information theory, cybernetics and engineering psychology. To the various disciplines of semiology belong semantics, which represents the relation between the map symbol to the content what it means, sigmatics, which defines the relationship of map symbols to the function expressed in terms of real content, syntactic, which describes the interactions of map symbols, grammar, that deals with the composition rule and specifies the map symbol to the system, and pragmatics, which describes the relationship of users to the map symbol system. It is necessary to design and apply specific methods of cartographic visualization that will be suitable for persons who are blind or have a serious visual impairment. Therefore, there is a significant need for adaptation to the target user needs.Analogically to the traditional cartography, the fundamental unit of tactile cartographic semiology is a tactile map symbol. Comparing to conventional map symbol the tactile map symbols have an extra specific 3D features, including the vertical dimension, roughness and texture. The specific design of the tactile map symbol depends on the applied technology – special tactile paper printers, plastic foils, metal engravings or modern type of 3D printing technology. Characteristics of tactile map symbols are used with regard to the possibilities of these technologies as well as in relation to the needs of the target group of users.Within the project Perception of the geospace by the modern type of tactile maps the sampler designed characters by 51 respondents (31 blind persons and 20 persons with hard visually impairments) was tested. There were examples of different lines, different textures and point map symbols (Fig. 3). Part of these symbols was identified by respondents as most satisfactory, some of the characters were identified as unsatisfactory. These were mainly badly recognisable structures, lines unrecognisable by touch, confusing dotting, etc.During the implementation of the project Development of independent movement through tactile-auditory aids, the gained knowledge was applied to the production of modern, tactile maps linked to the mobile technology (smartphone, tablet, etc.). Because the modern tactile maps using TouchIt3D technology (Barvir, 2017; Barvir et al., 2018) require many different sizes of 3D map objects, also the map symbols have to be different.Preliminary results of the user testing provide new information about map symbol perception by people with visual impairment, using a new type of 3D tactile maps created with TouchIt3D technology. Testing and prototyping are ongoing, and the conference contribution will bring the latest research results.

Additive manufacturing as an emerging technology for fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

The recent success of additive manufacturing processes (also called, 3D printing) in the manufacturing sector has led to a shift in the focus from simple prototyping to real production-grade technology. The enhanced capabilities of 3D printing processes to build intricate geometric shapes with high precision and resolution have led to their increased use in fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The 3D printing technology has offered tremendous flexibility to users for fabricating custom-built components. Over the past few decades, different types of 3D printing technologies have been developed. This article provides a comprehensive review of the recent developments and significant achievements in most widely used 3D printing technologies for MEMS fabrication, their working methodology, advantages, limitations, and potential applications. Furthermore, some of the emerging hybrid 3D printing technologies are discussed, and the current challenges associated with the 3D printing processes are addressed. Finally, future directions for process improvements in 3D printing techniques are presented.

An Overview on 3D Printing Technology: Technological, Materials, and Applications

Digital fabrication technology, also referred to as 3D printing or additive manufacturing, creates physical objects from a geometrical representation by successive addition of materials. 3D printing technology is a fast-emerging technology. Nowadays, 3D Printing is widely used in the world. 3D printing technology increasingly used for the mass customization, production of any types of open source designs in the field of agriculture, in healthcare, automotive industry, locomotive industry and aviation industries. 3D printing technology can print an object layer by layer deposition of material directly from a computer aided design (CAD) model. This paper presents the overview of the types of 3D printing technologies, the application of 3D printing technology and lastly, the materials used for 3D printing technology in manufacturing industry.

3D Printing Technologies for Flexible Tactile Sensors toward Wearable Electronics and Electronic Skin.

3D printing has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Over the past three decades, various 3D printing technologies have been developed including photopolymerization-based, materials extrusion-based, sheet lamination-based, binder jetting-based, power bed fusion-based and direct energy deposition-based processes. 3D printing offers unparalleled flexibility and simplicity in the fabrication of highly complex 3D objects. Tactile sensors that emulate human tactile perceptions are used to translate mechanical signals such as force, pressure, strain, shear, torsion, bend, vibration, etc. into electrical signals and play a crucial role toward the realization of wearable electronics and electronic skin. To date, many types of 3D printing technologies have been applied in the manufacturing of various types of tactile sensors including piezoresistive, capacitive and piezoelectric sensors. This review attempts to summarize the current state-of-the-art 3D printing technologies and their applications in tactile sensors for wearable electronics and electronic skin. The applications are categorized into five aspects: 3D-printed molds for microstructuring substrate, electrodes and sensing element; 3D-printed flexible sensor substrate and sensor body for tactile sensors; 3D-printed sensing element; 3D-printed flexible and stretchable electrodes for tactile sensors; and fully 3D-printed tactile sensors. Latest advances in the fabrication of tactile sensors by 3D printing are reviewed and the advantages and limitations of various 3D printing technologies and printable materials are discussed. Finally, future development of 3D-printed tactile sensors is discussed.