Ever since the world’s first 3D printer was built in 1983 by Chuck Hall, this technology has steadily progressed into one of the biggest game changers in the medical field. In just the year 2014, the 3D-printing industry grew by 35.2%. The impact of this technology will be seen across the medical board, from increased cost efficiency, faster prototyping, and innovative problem solving–all coming together to better patient health outcomes.
Produced through a process called additive manufacturing, 3D printing creates a solid object from a multi-layered digital file blueprint. This can be used with material from plastic or metal powders, all the way to stem cells. It’s expected to cost less than $1.3 billion by 2021, and considering the fact that the United States spent a total of about $150 billion on medical equipment in 2010 alone, 3D printing has the potential to counteract the cost of pricy medical procedures and lower the cost of medical models used before surgeries or during the healing process. For example, the average kidney transplant costs around $330,000 while a 3D copy would sell for $10,000.
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Along with saving money, 3D printing saves lives. Already, 3D printing has helped the push towards personalized medicine. In vitro cloning of body parts has been a dream of medical professionals for years, and now we’re starting to see it come to fruition.
In the future, scientists say that these 3D printed organoids will be able to adapt to and grow inside a patient’s body, and even take over when an organic organ fails. Even 3D printed pharmaceutical pills are being developed!
With medical advancements like these, 3D printing has laid the groundwork to shake up the medical field for the better and opened up the possibilities for vast improvement to patient health outcomes in the future.