Medical Applications of Additive Manufacturing

Rapid advances in imaging and additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are significantly changing clinical practice. Additive manufacturing, with its flexibility, provides a highly customizable and patient-specific treatment which could reduce the treatment time, improve outcomes, and increase patients’ comfort and satisfaction. In this chapter, we first introduce the general additive manufacturing process adopted in medical applications. Major steps such as 3-D imaging and printing are discussed in detail. Current-state-of-the-art medical applications are introduced and classified based on their medical purposes. Requirements and unique characteristics of specific cases are presented to provide insights for future AM applications. Limitations and regulatory issues regarding medical additive manufacturing are discussed. Finally, several possible future trends of medical applications of additive manufacturing are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Zhaohui Geng & Bopaya Bidanda
  1. Zhaohui Geng