Additive manufacturing techniques for biomedical applications: A critical review Available to Purchase

The recent technological advancements in the engineering sector opened more paths towards innovative designs and concepts in the medical field majorly in the biomedical devices and equipment. The biomedical devices are basically a mechanical device that are designed and utilized for medical purposes. Biomedical devices serve a wide range of function which ranges from initial diagnosis to support monitoring. Biomedical devices such as prosthetics and orthotics having more scope for improvement with respect to recent advancements. Most of the devices and components were made by conventional route through injection molding, casting, and machining processes which had many limitations. The recent advancement; Additive manufacturing created a new path to go with manufacturing for the design. The AM technology overcame major limitations faced by conventional technology. The AM technique such as 3D printing technology can build parts layer by layer approach which enables to print even a small and complicated shapes very easily. Even the prosthetics are usually printed for accurate dimensions and durability in 3D printing. The process of printing starts with melting down the material at high temperatures, deposition layer by layer and cooling down without sacrificing the mechanical and metallurgical properties. In recent times the biomedical devices are getting printed in stages, for example in the case of prosthetics, the first stages consist of printing the prosthetic and external parts and in the second stage takes care about the printing of internal parts like small and fixed bones. In the same way AM techniques is used to print many organisms like ligaments, tissues, and major parts like the heart and kidneys, etc. The present work mainly presents about all such recent AM printed devices and components in the biomedical field.