Medical 3D Printing: Applications, News, and Products
Author: Disabled World (DW)
Updated/Revised Date: 1 Aug 2026
Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Definition - About This Section - FAQs - Publications - Subtopics
Synopsis
Explore medical 3D printing and bioprinting, including custom implants, prosthetics, tissue engineering, printed organs, key market players, and the latest news.
At a Glance
- 1 - 3D printing builds objects by laying down successive layers of material under computer control.
- 2 - More than 121,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ transplants, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
- 3 - In March 2014, surgeons in Swansea used 3D-printed parts to rebuild the face of a motorcyclist seriously injured in a road accident.
- 4 - Bioprinting has seen preliminary success generating several kinds of tissue, including skin, bone, cartilage, trachea, and heart tissue.
Topic Definition
- Medical 3D Printing
Medical 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process that builds three-dimensional objects one layer at a time under computer control, working from a digital model to create shapes of almost any geometry. In healthcare, this technology has moved quickly from novelty to practical tool, allowing clinicians to produce patient-specific implants, prosthetics and artificial limbs, custom hearing aids, dental devices, and surgical models tailored to a single person's anatomy. A closely related branch called bioprinting goes a step further by printing with living cells, including stem cells, muscle cells, and vascular cells, to build tissue such as skin, cartilage, and bone. Although printing whole human organs for transplant remains years away, researchers are steadily advancing the field, drawn by its potential to lower costs, improve patient care, and eventually help meet the demand for donor organs.
Overview
The adoption of 3-D printing is happening fastest in the medical industry. The precise process of 3-D printers now give us the ability to reproduce vascular systems required to make organs viable. Researchers are already using the printers to print tiny strips of organ tissue. And while printing whole human organs for surgical transplants is still years away, the technology is rapidly developing.
3D printing (Additive Manufacturing (AM)) is defined as any of various processes used to make a three-dimensional object. In 3D printing, additive processes are used, in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control. These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source. The medical applications of 3D bioprinting are numerous, and are currently the subject of intensive research. 3D printing has already been used to print patient specific implant and devices for medical use. For example, Clinicians recently used 3D printing to help treat a woman with a degenerative condition of the spinal column.
In the future, 3-D printers could someday produce much-needed human organs for transplants.
Presently, more than 121,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ transplants, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. A leading bioengineering researcher, Dr. Stuart Williams of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, predicted that a 3-D printer will be able to print an entire heart from a human's own cells within a decade.
At Wake Forest, teams built custom bioprinters faster than modified ink-jets and can print with many more cell types, including stem cells, muscle cells, and vascular cells. They also designed a printer to create both the synthetic scaffold and tissue in one session; they're now using it to produce intricate ears, noses, and bones. Other uses of 3D printing in the medical field include the printing of Prosthetics and Artificial Limbs for amputees and people with disabilities, custom hearing aids, uses in the dental field, and printing new skin as grafts for burn and injury patients, as well as custom and new medical devices.
3D printing technology in healthcare is an evolutionary market that will be very lucrative in the next 5 years.
3D printing technology is reshaping the healthcare market and healthcare professionals are keen to explore it due to lower costs and improved quality of patient care solutions. The 3D printing technology involves implants, surgeries, and prosthetic operations. In the future, it might serve as an alternative for organ replacement too. Large pharmaceutical companies have also shown interest in this technology, as it could substantially reduce the cost of research and development for introducing new drugs to the market.
The 3D printing technology market has been categorized because of technology, applications and raw materials. The technology has grown rapidly in developed markets like the US and now is in the early stages of development in emerging economies, especially countries, which have an active medical tourism market such as India, Vietnam, and Malaysia etc.
The key players in the 3D printing healthcare technology include Organovo, Ekso Bionics, Bio 3D Technology, Metamason, Envision TEC, and Rainbow Biosciences. The market is expected to have exponential growth in the next five years as the awareness about the advantages of 3D printing technology in healthcare increases.
Future 3D printing applications for the medical field will certainly emerge with the development of suitable additional materials for diagnostic and therapeutic use that meet control guidelines. However, the swiftly evolving technology may create new moral conundrums, and a research director at Gartner Inc. believes 3-D bioprinting is advancing so quickly that it will spark a major ethical debate by 2016.
Medical 3D Printing Facts and Accomplishments
One major application area of bioprinting is in the tissue engineering field of regenerative medicine;
- 3D printing techniques can be employed to construct nanoscale-size objects.
- 3D printing has been used to print patient specific implant and device for medical use.
- The Lawrence Bonassar Laboratory at Cornell University has been working on 3D bioprinting cartilaginous geometries.
- The hearing aid and dental industries are expected to be the biggest area of future development using the custom 3D printing technology.
- Commercially, Printer-inks, a UK company, and Organovo, a U.S. company, have worked together to develop human tissue through 3D printing.
- In March 2014, surgeons in Swansea used 3D-printed parts to rebuild the face of a motorcyclist who had been seriously injured in a road accident.
- Researchers in the Jonathan Butcher Laboratory in the Cornell University College of Engineering have been developing methods to bio-print living aortic heart valves.
- 3D bioprinting has seen much preliminary success in terms of generation of several kinds of tissues. These include skin, bone, cartilage, trachea, and heart tissue.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is another name for 3D printing?
3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing, a process that makes a three-dimensional object by laying down successive layers of material under computer control.
What is the difference between 3D printing and bioprinting?
Standard 3D printing produces objects like implants and prosthetics, while bioprinting prints with living cells such as stem, muscle, and vascular cells to build tissue.
Can 3D printers make whole human organs yet?
Not yet, as printing whole human organs for surgical transplants is still years away, though researchers are already printing tiny strips of organ tissue.
What medical devices can be made with 3D printing?
3D printing can produce patient-specific implants, prosthetics and artificial limbs, custom hearing aids, dental devices, skin grafts, and new medical devices.
Why are healthcare professionals interested in 3D printing?
Healthcare professionals are drawn to 3D printing because it can lower costs and improve the quality of patient care across implants, surgeries, and prosthetics.
Which types of tissue has bioprinting already produced?
Bioprinting has seen preliminary success generating several kinds of tissue, including skin, bone, cartilage, trachea, and heart tissue.
Which industries are expected to grow most from medical 3D printing?
The hearing aid and dental industries are expected to be the biggest areas of future development using custom 3D printing technology.
Curated and edited by Ian C. Langtree, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Disabled World. This section is maintained by the Disabled World editorial team.
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