Medical applications of rapid prototyping: a review of the current state of technology

Abstract

Rapid prototyping (RP) also known as additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing is a collection of techniques that aid faster production of prototypes. RP has a wide variety of applications in fields ranging from forensic science to space instrumentation. Over time, its medical applications have evolved from constructing models for training and communication to creating customized human implants and prosthetics. Today, RP has emerged as a powerful tool in tissue engineering by 3D printing human organs from living cells. This thesis presents a review of the various RP developments leading to new applications in the medical field by conducting a textual analysis of the publications. The review covers related publications from January 2001 to December 2017. NVivo 12 Plus software is used to stratify the publications followed by a manual review to draw results and conclusions. Knowledge of these applications is expected to provide a better understanding of the current state of the technology and propose directions for future research in terms of hardware, software and material.