Additive Manufacturing Systems for Medical Applications: Case Studies

Additive manufacturing is a growing technology and has become part of mankind’s daily life, namely, at a technological, economic and social level. It i s a main topic of university lectures worldwide and it is applied by every industrial sector; in particular, it has been promoted in the medical field where its impact has increased and more and more systems are being acquired and developed for healthcare applications. Due to its capability to produce complex geometric parts directly from medical imaging data using biocompatible materials, additive manufacturing is a key technology for the fabrication of external (e.g. exoskeletons, or orthoses) and internal (permanent or temporary tissue implants) medical devices. This chapter introduces the main additive manufacturing techniques being used in the medical field, discusses main process steps and also presents several case studies including the development of a hand-wrist-forearm and finger orthosis, mandibular reconstruction, cranial prostheses, personalized insoles and bone composite scaffolds for tissue engineering.