3D Printing in Healthcare: The Future is Here

3D printing is not new to the technology world as it stepped into the market long before, in 1984. Later, some of the established companies and start-ups deployed 3D printing technologies in their business, but only with very lesser acceptance. However, in recent years, the technological advancements have made this technology better than ever accepted in several industries.

The great acceptance of the technology has reduced the cost of implementing 3D printing equipment so that organizations today can deploy them especially for manufacturing products like pens, figurines, and household tools. Recently, the healthcare industry has also begun to figure out how to utilize these 3D printing technologies to reduce costs for ensuring better patient care and treat them with higher efficiency.

According to research by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 3D printers are already being used to manufacture medical devices and surgical equipment, specifically on the basis of the body type of the patient or on the basis of the different anatomical requirements. Manufacturing these specialized surgical devices helps physicians to treat each patient differently on the basis of their unique needs with more efficiency.

Another advantage of the 3D printing technologies is the manufacturing of body parts for patients. The great advancements in the healthcare technologies have made researchers to create body parts with 3D printing technology. They have used the 3D printing to generate new skin for burn victims and for implanting bone structures as well as body parts like legs, hands, feet, nose, and eyes.

As the 3D printing technology develops more with new innovations, physicians are expecting more applications in healthcare with this technology. The pathologists are today planning to use the 3D printing technology to make 3D prosthetic organs to fight infections and disease.

Plastic surgery is today common in modeling and film industries. In the case of plastic surgery, 3D printing can recreate perfections in the face by making changes in facial parts like cheeks, nose, eyebrows, and eyes. So far, 3D printing hasn’t shown much efficiency in creating new body parts; however, doctors believe that the technology will continue to develop and that they would deploy efficient 3D printing technologies in their healthcare functions.