For the past few decades, the rise of 3D printing and additive technology has proven to be a major achievement in engineering and manufacturing. The creation of objects by adding material rather than traditional subtraction methods saves time and money.
Most of us use 3D printers as a hobby or personal interest. Others use 3D printing methods in their professions. Many fields of engineering, like Aerospace Engineering and Architecture/Construction, have used 3D printing for both prototyping and full-scale production.
Prototyping is the practice of designing lower-grade models to better visualize a final product. Virtually everything around us was originally a prototype. This includes our cars, planes, homes, and the devices we’re using right now. With the endless demands engineering fulfills through prototyping, it’s not surprising that 3D printing has risen to the level of importance it has today in fields like mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, architecture, and more.
This begs the question: Does 3D Printing play a significant role in non-engineering fields like Healthcare?
What is Healthcare?
Most of us are familiar with the term “healthcare”. We can define it as a field of study that focuses on patients’ overall physical and mental well-being through prevention, diagnosis, and treatment efforts.
Everything that focuses on health contributes to healthcare. Our standard physician ensures our bodies are physically healthy overall. Surgeons work towards the treatment of illnesses or other issues within our bodies. Physiotherapists work towards the prevention and treatment of muscular injuries. Therapists also contribute to healthcare by improving mental health among patients.
With so many roles that go into healthcare, it’s compelling to think about how 3D printing contributes. Usually, advanced 3D printing methods are used by engineers. But now, we’re seeing a rise of 3D printing in the healthcare industry through Bioprinting, Prostheses, and Anatomic Models.
Let’s talk about Bioprinting.
Bioprinting
Bioprinting refers to additive technology that contributes to the creation of living organs and tissue for functional use. In simpler terms, bioprinting involves 3D printing physical body parts. This idea seems completely unreal. How can a body part be 3D printed? We know 3D printed objects to be made of plastics like PLA and ABS, so how can we create living things using a 3D printer?
We should always go back to the fundamental definition of 3D printing: the act of constructing something through layer addition. While most of us 3D print with plastics or sometimes metals, new research is being done on using 3D printing on living cells, constructing functional body systems like blood vessels and organ tissue.
Why Bioprinting?
Successfully using 3D printing to build tissue and bodily systems would solve countless problems. Traditionally, when someone requires a new organ, a transplant is performed, taking an organ from a donor and surgically attaching it to the patient’s body. However, many complications occur with this process, including rejection.
Rejection is a common body reaction to foreign tissue and cells. When an organ is transplanted from a separate donor, the body’s immune system doesn’t recognize it, rejecting it as a body part and treating it more like an infection. To combat this, most transplant patients must take medications to lower their immunity, making them more susceptible to real infections.
So, how does 3D Printing eliminate complications with rejection? When medical experts use 3D printing to create organs, they use cells from the patient’s own body. They do this by taking a small portion of a patient’s organ or tissue, using it to grow more cells. These new cells are then put into a special type of 3D printer to construct parts of different organ systems. Since the cells are created from the patient’s cells, their immune system will have less of a hostile reaction to new tissue.
Is It Realistic?
While bioprinting technology is still being developed, researchers have completed many successful tests, creating blood vessels, heart tissue, and more. With further development, bioprinting will be a significant breakthrough in the medical field.
Mark Skylar-Scott and his Stanford University team are contributing to some of the most significant bioprinting efforts. The team at Stanford is developing machines and methods to create functional human organs using bioprinting technology. So far, the team has successfully developed a machine and method to bioprint models of vascular trees, networks of blood vessels throughout the body, in particular shapes. Check out Dr. Skylar-Scott’s mission:
Overall, the idea and current successes of bioprinting could change everything about the healthcare industry, especially when it comes to organ implants. While the technology and methods aren’t finalized, it’s revolutionary seeing 3D printing technology contributing towards healthcare efforts.
Most experts say that creating a fully functional heart using this method is still a long way ahead. This is the same with other organs. Regardless, Bioprinting provides a promising future for global healthcare.
