Printing Health: Additive Manufacturing in the Medical and Healthcare Field

 Overview

Additive manufacturing is witnessing fast adoption in the medical and healthcare industry, thanks to the game changing abilities that additive technologies bring to healthcare applications. Additive manufacturing is being adopted into serial parts production in several industries, and its ability to disrupt traditional manufacturing methods in select fields cannot be understated.

The State of Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing continues to disrupt traditional manufacturing methods by distinguishing itself in terms of material cost and flexibility in production by allowing for geometries that could not traditionally be milled or would require multiple parts. Additive manufacturing has moved beyond rapid and advanced prototyping to legitimate serial parts production; the products of this process are heavily utilized in aerospace, defense, automotive, and even industrial applications. The ability to “digitally warehouse” a part, which is to print replacements on demand instead of holding and warehousing a replacement piece, is an incredible step that allows companies to be more flexible.

While additive manufacturing makes headlines in traditional fields like aerospace and automotive, it is advancing in other industries too. One sector that may come as a surprise is healthcare and medical, which is rapidly adopting additive manufacturing and will continue to experience rapid growth.

Medical Manufacturing’s Growth

According to ARC’s research, medical manufacturing is the fastest growing market segment within the additive manufacturing space, encompassing dentistry, medical fixtures and appliances, and medical tooling. Additive manufacturing for medical and medical related industries is already disruptive to more traditional subtractive manufacturing and additive designs.

COVID-19 has indirectly led to an increase in adoption thanks in part to the need for medical staff to surmount an ever-pressing lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the beginning of the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration, during the height of personal protective equipment shortages in 2020, released guidance for medical facilities utilizing 3D printed PPE. Healthcare continued to invest in additive manufacturing throughout the ongoing pandemic. This awakened the medical industry to the advanced capabilities that additive manufacturing could bring in production.

Benefits of Additive Manufacturing in Healthcare Applications

Additive manufacturing’s characteristics allow for a greater flexibility in the design process. Where subtractive manufacturing requires specialized effort, and a greater starting material amount, additive manufacturing minimizes these issues. Additive manufacturing has branched into a wide number of materials, from plastics and resins, to metals, and now to biomaterial composed of living cells. Coupling additive manufacturing with generative design can be an especially winning combination for the health and medical field.

The ability to print on site and reduce the time needed to create specific devices and tools for medical applications is game changing. The ability to print customizable parts to better fit both doctor and patient needs reduces issues overall. But how much of this new technology is currently being implemented?

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Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Healthcare, Bioprinting, Patient Customization, Medical Tooling, Dental, ARC Advisory Group.