Since the late 20th century, breakthroughs in technology have been occurring expeditiously. Indeed, technological innovations have provided the betterment of many aspects of life and ensured humans’ appropriate forms of evolution and civilization. It is safe to claim that medicine has advanced within the past few decades, especially with the upbringing of technological innovations. The world of medicine would not have experienced its recent breakthroughs and profound discoveries without utilizing the available technology.
The improvements observed in medicine and technology resulted in better providing of healthcare. Customizing treatments for each patient is now possible. One method of applying customization is through 3D printing of materials such as artificial prosthetics, tissues, and organs. This literature review analyzes 3D printing by stating definitions, assessing its history, discussing its different applications and closing with evaluating future directions.
3D printing first appeared in the late 20th century, and its primary purpose was to design and manufacture products efficiently and accurately. Traditional production of structures involves subtractive manufacturing (carving, cutting, and other methods of reshaping materials) to achieve desired products, whereas 3D printers implement additive manufacturing (a layer-by-layer approach). This provides less time, greater accuracy, and labor-free fabrication of products. Computerized software is one of the essential parts of 3D printing, and functions include designing, scaling, visualizing, controlling production frequency, and many more. In medical applications, the software may require CT scans, cone beam computed tomography, and intraoral scanners (for dental applications).
The 3D printing techniques identified in this review are generally applied in oral and maxillofacial procedures—stereolithography, which constructs a product layer-by-layer through curing liquid resin using a UV laser. Digital light projection is a method similar to stereolithography, with a few differences, such as using a UV light instead of a laser and using a liquid crystal display panel. Fused deposition modeling is a technique that melts plastic filaments and extrudes them through a nozzle to form a structure in a layer-by-layer fashion. Selective laser sintering is also similar to stereolithography, where it uses a laser to form an object layer by layer, but the material is a thin layer of plastic powder instead of liquid resin. The power binder printing technique applies droplets onto powdered materials, adhering and forming layers as designed via computerized software. Lastly, computed axial lithography is similar to digital light projection, except the light is projected from many angles at once instead of one layer at a time.
The main objectives of this literature review are to investigate each technique, discuss the advantages and disadvantages, and list the commonly applied areas in medicine for each. Also, this review evaluates the current limitations experienced when using 3D printers and suggestions for overcoming them. Some limitations include, but are not limited to, excessive time allocated for producing specific structures, accurate capturing of surgical sites, use of appropriate materials that form printed structures, cost, and deficiencies of reported data.
Lastly, this literature review assesses the future projections. The future holds promising breakthroughs in 3D printing technology, including the fabrication of dental stem cells, operating artificial organs, complex vascular tissues, customized artificial alveolar structures for oral and intracranial procedures, and regeneration of periodontal tissues. These projections may occur by overcoming the most reported limitations.
Medicine is digitizing rapidly and will continue adapting to the latest technological inventions. The current efforts to advance 3D printing technology will likely positively impact the advancement of many fields, including healthcare, increase chances of positive postoperative outcomes, and potentially combat many health issues society faces today. Professionals across disciplines must come together to further research and educate curriculums to revolve around the innovative technologies to continuing education courses related to 3-D printing technologies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/44002 |
| Date | 09 March 2022 |
| Creators | Chalabi, Amr |
| Contributors | Davies, Theresa A. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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