3D Printing for Medical Device Applications
Roger Narayan,
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University
Most medical applications of lasers involve use of lasers as universal scalpels in minimally invasive techniques, which are associated with less postoperative pain, less blood loss, and shorter operating times than conventional techniques. Lasers are also now being used for 3d printing of medical devices that exhibit unique biological characteristics and patient-specific attributes. Laser-based 3d printing can be undertaken in a conventional manufacturing or clinical medicine environment; no specialized facilities (e.g., cleanroom facilities) are required. Laser-based 3d printing techniques have recently been to create medically-relevant structures out of biocompatible inorganic-organic hybrid materials and polymers. The use of biocompatible photoinitiators for laser-based 3d printing will be considered. Processing of medical devices, such as microneedles for drug delivery and scaffolds for tissue engineering, using laser-based 3d printing will be reviewed. Evaluation of laser-based 3d printing-fabricated materials using the MTT assay and other in vitro assays will be considered. Several application-specific studies of laser-based 3d printing-fabricated medical devices will be discussed. Our results indicate that two laser-based 3d printing provides unique benefits for processing many types of medical devices.
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