Search Results for 3D printing

This article provides highlights of the general process and workflow of creating a 3D-printed model from a medical image and discusses the applications of additively manufactured materials. It provides a brief background on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classification and regulation of medical devices, with an emphasis on 3D-printed devices. Then, the article discusses two broad applications of 3D printing in craniofacial surgery: surgery and education. Next, it discusses, with respect to surgical applications, preoperative planning, use in the operating room, surgical guides, and implants. The article includes sections on education that focus on the use of 3D-printed surgical simulators and other tools to teach medical students and residents. It briefly touches on the FDA regulations associated with the respective application of 3D printing in medicine. Lastly, the article briefly discusses the state of medical billing and reimbursement for this service.

The application of three-dimensional printers can be revolutionary as a tool for the customization and personalization of pharmaceutical dosage forms. The areas of 3D printing applicable to pharmaceutical manufacturing can be segregated into three categories: extrusion technologies, powder-bed fusion, and stereolithography. Common extrusion-based technologies are fused deposition modeling and pressure-assisted microsyringe; powder-bed fusion is separated by binder jet and selective laser sintering. The synergies between pharmaceutical, or active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), and polymer printing are discussed in this article, with particular attention to how the incorporation of small-molecule APIs changes the material selection, design considerations, processing parameters, and challenges associated with each technology.