3D Printing in Healthcare: Applications, Limitations, and Future
Added on 2023-06-12
6 Pages2585 Words71 Views
|
|
|
The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research
Volume 16 Article 3
3D Printing In Healthcare
Caleb Branch
Follow this and additional works at: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur
Part of the Bioimaging and Biomedical Optics Commons, Biomedical Devices and
Instrumentation Commons, and the Biotechnology Commons
How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited you?
This document is posted at http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at
St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact fisherpub@sjfc.edu.
Recommended Citation
Branch, Caleb. "3D Printing In Healthcare." The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research 16 (2015): 1-4. Web. [date of
access]. <http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3>.
Volume 16 Article 3
3D Printing In Healthcare
Caleb Branch
Follow this and additional works at: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur
Part of the Bioimaging and Biomedical Optics Commons, Biomedical Devices and
Instrumentation Commons, and the Biotechnology Commons
How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited you?
This document is posted at http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at
St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact fisherpub@sjfc.edu.
Recommended Citation
Branch, Caleb. "3D Printing In Healthcare." The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research 16 (2015): 1-4. Web. [date of
access]. <http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3>.
3D Printing In Healthcare
Abstract
Technology is everywhere. Technology surrounds every aspect of 21st century life. It is in the cell phones we
use, the cars we drive, and even the food we eat. A large portion of modern technology used is taken for
granted and overlooked. Despite this, some technology fields continue to grow. Biomedical engineering,
specifically 3D printing’s applications to healthcare, has been often overlooked until. Regardless of its status in
the mainstream, 3D printing is prosperous in healthcare and its future looks bright. This piece analyzes 3D
printing in healthcare. It hones in on the finer details of each specific topic, including how 3D printing
currently works, its limitations, current and future applications.
Keywords
3-D printing, biomedical engineering, medical imaging
This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3
Abstract
Technology is everywhere. Technology surrounds every aspect of 21st century life. It is in the cell phones we
use, the cars we drive, and even the food we eat. A large portion of modern technology used is taken for
granted and overlooked. Despite this, some technology fields continue to grow. Biomedical engineering,
specifically 3D printing’s applications to healthcare, has been often overlooked until. Regardless of its status in
the mainstream, 3D printing is prosperous in healthcare and its future looks bright. This piece analyzes 3D
printing in healthcare. It hones in on the finer details of each specific topic, including how 3D printing
currently works, its limitations, current and future applications.
Keywords
3-D printing, biomedical engineering, medical imaging
This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol16/iss1/3
3D Printing In Healthcare
Caleb Branch
Abstract
Technology is everywhere. Technology
surrounds every aspect of 21st century life.
It is in the cell phones we use, the cars we
drive, and even the food we eat. A large
portion of modern technology used is taken
for granted and overlooked. Despite this,
some technology fields continue to grow.
Biomedical engineering, specifically 3D
printing’s applications to healthcare, has
been often overlooked until. Regardless of
its status in the mainstream, 3D printing is
prosperous in healthcare and its future looks
bright. This piece analyzes 3D printing in
healthcare. It hones in on the finer details of
each specific topic, including how 3D
printing currently works, its limitations,
current and future applications.
Introduction
The goal of biomedical engineering
is to close the gap between engineering and
healthcare. It combines the problem solving
and calculation oriented side of engineering
with medicine’s viewpoint of the human
body, its workings, and solutions to
scenarios, to create an entire different
branch of medicine and technology. Within
this field, there are many disciplines, with
different focuses on how to fix each problem
within an abnormally functioning human
body. The main focus of this paper, 3D
printing, is one of these disciplines of
biomedical engineering. Three dimensional
(3D) printing is a form of additive
manufacturing; “where a stack of layers is
printed one by one, ultimately forming the
desired object” (Houtilainen, Paloheimo,
Salmi, Paloheimo, Björkstrand, Tuomi, . . .
Mäkitie, 2014, p. 78). In a nonmedical
discipline this can be as simple as creating
children’s toys, or as complex as forming jet
engine turbines; the applications are endless.
Medically speaking, there are many uses for
this technology, which are evolving every
day in locations as close as Cornell
University. According to Miller (2014), the
shifting trend of 3D printing in biomedical
engineering occurred from the need for
biological processes to be involved into
implanted pieces. Cells ultimately dictate
body chemistry, and what would be a better
replacement for malfunctioning cells in the
human body than functioning cells? The
answer to this question is nothing. In the
following paragraphs, 3D printing will be
further broken down into how it currently
works, its applications, and what its future
holds.
Basic Concepts of 3D Printing
The medically minded may
understand 3D printing and additive
manufacturing better by drawing parallels
between the former and computerized
tomography, otherwise known as a CT scan.
“A computed tomography (CT) scan is an
imaging method that uses x-rays to create
pictures of cross-sections of the body” (U.S.
National Library of Medicine [NLM],
2014). Essentially, consecutive x-ray
images are stacked on top of each other to
create 3D images of the human body.
Houtilainen et al. (2014) stated:
Consider a CT scan, which
consists of multiple planar slices: in
a certain way, AM (additive
manufacturing) might be called its
reverse process where digitized
images are brought back to the
physical world as metal, plastic,
ceramic, or composite parts
regardless of the complexity of their
1
Branch: 3D Printing In Healthcare
Published by Fisher Digital Publications, 2015
Caleb Branch
Abstract
Technology is everywhere. Technology
surrounds every aspect of 21st century life.
It is in the cell phones we use, the cars we
drive, and even the food we eat. A large
portion of modern technology used is taken
for granted and overlooked. Despite this,
some technology fields continue to grow.
Biomedical engineering, specifically 3D
printing’s applications to healthcare, has
been often overlooked until. Regardless of
its status in the mainstream, 3D printing is
prosperous in healthcare and its future looks
bright. This piece analyzes 3D printing in
healthcare. It hones in on the finer details of
each specific topic, including how 3D
printing currently works, its limitations,
current and future applications.
Introduction
The goal of biomedical engineering
is to close the gap between engineering and
healthcare. It combines the problem solving
and calculation oriented side of engineering
with medicine’s viewpoint of the human
body, its workings, and solutions to
scenarios, to create an entire different
branch of medicine and technology. Within
this field, there are many disciplines, with
different focuses on how to fix each problem
within an abnormally functioning human
body. The main focus of this paper, 3D
printing, is one of these disciplines of
biomedical engineering. Three dimensional
(3D) printing is a form of additive
manufacturing; “where a stack of layers is
printed one by one, ultimately forming the
desired object” (Houtilainen, Paloheimo,
Salmi, Paloheimo, Björkstrand, Tuomi, . . .
Mäkitie, 2014, p. 78). In a nonmedical
discipline this can be as simple as creating
children’s toys, or as complex as forming jet
engine turbines; the applications are endless.
Medically speaking, there are many uses for
this technology, which are evolving every
day in locations as close as Cornell
University. According to Miller (2014), the
shifting trend of 3D printing in biomedical
engineering occurred from the need for
biological processes to be involved into
implanted pieces. Cells ultimately dictate
body chemistry, and what would be a better
replacement for malfunctioning cells in the
human body than functioning cells? The
answer to this question is nothing. In the
following paragraphs, 3D printing will be
further broken down into how it currently
works, its applications, and what its future
holds.
Basic Concepts of 3D Printing
The medically minded may
understand 3D printing and additive
manufacturing better by drawing parallels
between the former and computerized
tomography, otherwise known as a CT scan.
“A computed tomography (CT) scan is an
imaging method that uses x-rays to create
pictures of cross-sections of the body” (U.S.
National Library of Medicine [NLM],
2014). Essentially, consecutive x-ray
images are stacked on top of each other to
create 3D images of the human body.
Houtilainen et al. (2014) stated:
Consider a CT scan, which
consists of multiple planar slices: in
a certain way, AM (additive
manufacturing) might be called its
reverse process where digitized
images are brought back to the
physical world as metal, plastic,
ceramic, or composite parts
regardless of the complexity of their
1
Branch: 3D Printing In Healthcare
Published by Fisher Digital Publications, 2015
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents