6 Uses of 3D Printing in the Medical and Healthcare Industry

Technology is a staple in the medical and healthcare field. Since the 1950s, it has become a part of various key processes, which include diagnosis, data recording, simulation, and treatments.

Today, medical professionals continue to use and rely on various types of technology to save lives and provide their patients with treatments that improve their quality of life.

Moreover, medical and healthcare experts and practitioners are constantly looking for and discovering technologies to improve and perfect their skills and areas of expertise so they can provide better and more successful treatments. This process includes finding new uses for existing ones and applying them in this field.

Applications of 3D Printing in Medicine and Healthcare

Three-dimensional or 3D printing is one of the technologies that has found different valuable applications in the field of medicine and healthcare.

3D printing in Dubai, in particular, is not only used in the fields of architecture, engineering, construction, and education. It has multiple applications that have helped and improved various areas of and processes in the medical and healthcare industry.

These remarkable uses include:

1. Production of new medical tools

3D printing has made it faster and more affordable for manufacturers of medical devices and instruments to produce prototypes of their new products. These companies can then use these samples for presentations and testing.

Many manufacturers even use this technology to produce their actual products.

3D printers require only a few hours to work on a project, that is, depending on the complexity of the product design, to create a medical tool or instrument. If a manufacturer decides to use the traditional production process, it will take them days or even weeks to get their hands on a perfect prototype.

From the smallest medical tools to larger, more complex ones, manufacturers will find it faster and more efficient to use 3D printing to create new medical products.

2. Creation of individualized surgical models

With medical practitioners handling more complex cases by the day, they have to be smarter and more efficient in treating them.

Three-dimensional anatomical models printed using patient scan data are now valuable tools doctors use to provide personalized, precise treatments. With medical and healthcare teams having access to accurate visual elements that they can touch, they can have a better understanding of each patient’s case.

These three-dimensional models can help teams come up with the ideal treatment.

Additionally, 3D printouts can assist doctors in explaining their recommended treatment plan, the processes involved, and the benefits to their patients more clearly. This can reduce the patient’s anxieties and encourage them to give their consent faster.

Lastly, an emerging valuable application of 3D tech in the medical field is using it to produce customized surgical tools that are needed for special or unique techniques and cases.

By using biocompatible medical 3D printing materials, medical professionals can create contouring templates, fixation trays, and implant models that can be used for individual patients. These devices enable surgeons to reduce surgery time and boost the accuracy of complex procedures.

3. Prosthetics

One of the 3D printing’s most remarkable and valuable uses in medicine and healthcare is the production of prosthetics.

The easy customization and versatility features of 3D printers have made it possible for manufacturers and even practitioners themselves to create individualized prosthetics and implants for patients.

Thanks to this technology, amputees can live a normal life since the hands, arms, or legs they lost can be replaced.

3D printed prosthesis is becoming a more popular option than traditional ones since they are quicker and more affordable to create. Moreover, they can be fully adapted to the body type, disability, habits, and needs of each patient, thanks to 3D scanning and modeling technology.

4. Production of lifelike bones

Aside from prostheses,3D printers can create replicas of human bones.

Since this technology can print models with various materials, medical practitioners can produce comfortable bone formations. These can be used to connect the natural bone to the prosthetic.

This increases patient comfort as he or she uses the prosthetic. It helps reduce the risk of injury as well.

Many 3D printing machines have a large baseplate volume that allows large bones to be printed with accuracy. Aside from using them for connecting prostheses, doctors can practice on them to prepare for complex operations beforehand.

5. Creation of model dental appliances and prostheses

The dental industry has also benefited greatly from 3D printing technology.

Dentistry practitioners have used 3D printers to produce a model and temporary dentures, crowns, bridges, and mouth guards. They have also used the technology to create partial frameworks and guides for dental implants.

Orthodontists can also study 3D printed models to come up with precise and effective treatments for patients with serious dental problems.

Practitioners will find using this technology more cost-efficient and less time-consuming since they do all the processes themselves without having to rely on a contractor to create the models or temporary prostheses.

1. Bioprinting and cellular engineering

3D printing experts from On Point 3D say that one of the most innovative applications of this technology in the medical industry is bioprinting.

Researchers are exploring ways to use 3D printers to grow replacement cells, tissues, and even organs in the laboratory for treating injuries and diseases.

Scientists have already succeeded in printing 3D structures with living cells through a technique called in-air microfluidics. This procedure enables the fast production of micro-building blocks that help repair damaged tissues.

Through this technique, the damaged tissue can be repaired using the cultured cell material of the patient printed by a specialized 3D printer.

Scientists are also studying the possibility of using 3D printing technology to create patient-specific vascular graft designs and provide testing platforms for new vascular medical devices. These include exploring ways to use it to produce blood vessels that are ready to be implanted into patients.

The production of synthetic blood vessels seems to be a viable study since 3D printing technology can recreate the precise shapes, sizes, and geometries of vessels required by patients. The ability of 3D models to closely match the specific needs of the patient ensures the capillary will be compatible with and function within his or her body.

Since 3D printing technology is constantly being innovated, its applications in the medical and healthcare industry will also continue to grow and expand. These discoveries and uses are worth watching out for.

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5 Ways that 3D printing can help with prototyping in Dubai

Even though need is the mother of invention, every new idea still needs to be tested to see how well it meets a certain need. This method, called prototyping, lets companies test out their ideas and see how well they work before they are mass-produced and sold on the market.

Even though there have been other ways to make samples in the past, 3D printing has helped speed up the early stages of coming up with new ideas.

These days, a lot of people use this technology. 3D printers have proven to be a useful tool for bringing ideas to life. In fact, big businesses have been using 3D printing in Dubai to improve their products for a while now.

More and more small businesses can use 3D printing to make their own samples now that printers are getting cheaper. If you still haven’t, your business might be missing out on the five perks listed below:

1. Using money well

3D printing is the most cost-effective way for companies to try out their ideas and concepts when it comes to small applications and small production runs.

Traditional methods like injection casting and CNC machining require a whole fleet of expensive equipment, but 3D printing only needs one or two pieces of much smaller and less expensive equipment.

With this technology, you can also cut down on labor costs because you won’t need as many technicians and machine operators with a lot of knowledge to run a 3D printer. Depending on the method you use, you may only need a few people to do 3D printing.

The best part isn’t that, though. With 3D printing dubai, you also lose less material when making a prototype. This is because the prototype is made from scratch instead of being carved or molded from a larger mass of your chosen material.

2. The ability to change the type of material used

What’s the point of having a modeling machine if you can only use one kind of plastic? With a 3D printer, you can use different kinds of filament to make your samples, which makes it easier to test your inventions.

Even though most 3D printers use plastic to make things, the number of materials that can be used has grown by leaps and bounds since the technology was first introduced. In fact, there are many different kinds of plastic filament products on the market today, such as:

Polylactic Acid, or PLA, is the cheapest and easiest material to print with.
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, or ABS, is a plastic that is often used to print things that are both hard and easy to finish.
Polyvinyl Alcohol, or PVA, is a plastic that breaks down in water and can be recycled.
Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET, is a clear, colorless thread that can be shaped with heat after it has been printed.
Nylon is great for parts or things that need to be strong but also flexible.

Some 3D printers can use wood, clay, metal, and even magnetic materials in addition to plastic. With these options, creators don’t need to use different pieces of tools to test their ideas on different kinds of materials. This encourages people to try things out and learn from their mistakes, which can lead to great ideas.

3. The many ways it can be used

Even though 3D models are mostly used in building and other design-related fields, 3D printers can make almost anything. What used to be science fiction is now a generally accepted fact: anything can be printed, as long as it fits within the printer’s build volume and scale.

This is why 3D printing service providers in Dubai, like On Point 3D, are a lot like a shopping mall: they have everything you need in one place.

With the way things were made in the past, every new part or change needed a new mold, die, tool, or block. But with 3D printing, all you have to do is put the design into a piece of software called a “slicer” along with all the required supports, and you’re ready to go.

Still, there’s no need to change the gear.

You can also make shapes and geometries with 3D printing that you can’t make with other ways. Among these are things with parts inside parts and empty spaces inside solid parts. You can also add a texture, color, or even a mechanical feature to your design, and it will be printed exactly the way you made it.

4. Support for quick testing and changes

In addition to low costs and a wide range of uses and materials, samples can be made quickly with 3D printing.

Don’t forget that most first plans have flaws that need to be fixed. This is normal, since this is the whole point of testing.

But with traditional ways of making prototypes, many business owners have to deal with expensive delays between prototypes. Because changes have to be made so often, you need a prototyping system that can keep up.

Luckily, 3D printing is made for quick testing and changes compared to injection molding and other traditional ways of making things, which take longer to make each part.

Most of the time, the latter takes several weeks to make what is asked for, plus delivery time. Depending on the provider and method you use, 3D printing lets you make changes whenever you want.

5. It works for both concept models and working models.

For people who don’t know, idea models and functional prototypes are used in different ways. Concept models only show how something would look, but working prototypes try to show how it can be used.

When it comes to idea models, 3D printing lets you say even more than a thousand words with a single picture. By holding, touching, and moving a sample around, business owners could see if there are still ways to make it better.

For practical models, this is even more important. These prototypes are used to see if an idea is useful and to try out different materials and features so that a product can be made that solves a problem that consumers have and meets their needs.