3D Printing for Surgical Procedures

3D PRINTING has always been an interesting topic. It seems that only yesterday the vast
majority of people could only imagine and portray in movies the act of producing any items
seemingly out of thing air. You can make something out of powder/plastic or any material
which can be used immediately. During my research, I found out that 3d printing came to the
attention of the public in the 80’s. The technique was not available to the wider audience which
made it very difficult for them to understand the whole concept of 3D printing.

As year went on, more and more progress has been made in order to make it more accessible
to the public. The 3D printing market is forecasted to rise from 8,8 billion dollars (2017) to 26,5
billion dollars (2021) in just 4 years. (Oerlikon, 2017) In the next 20 years, 3D printing will
change the way we buy products and much more. This technique is being used in various
industries from printing spare parts to space operations, all the way to medical procedures.
Currently NASA is researching the possibility of a 3D printer to be used in space in order to print
various parts. This can have potentially huge benefits allowing for parts to be printed in space
thus eliminating the need of transporting them from earth into space. This essay will focus on
3D printing for surgical procedures.

The medical industry has embraced 3D printing due to the endless possibilities it can provide.
Given current technology within the industry, doctors are able to easily scan and identify
anomalies within the human body via X-RAY, MRI or CAT scans. The information collected
through these procedures can than be used to create accurate renditions of said abnormalities
in both size and structure. This allows doctors a better understanding of said abnormalities in
patients.

Before the industry is able to use the full potential of this technique, several case to case basis
have been tested and analyzed. Kidney tumors, Double Aortic Arch, Scoliosis, Frontonasal
Dysplasia and Lung Tumor are examples of specific cases that have been successfully tested
(Gaisford, 2017) The advantages are a significant reduction in procedures costs, avoiding
unnecessary intervention, accelerated recovery and a reduced length of hospitalization.
However, before any of the above mentioned milestones can be achieved the actual process of
carefully selecting, analyzing and replicating the data regarding a specific organ or tissue needs
to be addressed. This is particularly true when considering that accurate design of the bio
fabrication process (creation or organs or tissue) has been a consistent challenge within the
industry and what little success has been achieved in replicating tissue and organs has been
limited to simple small and simple in structure compared to most organs such as kidneys, liver
or lungs which in turn possess a high degree of complexity and are some of the biggest organs
in the body. (Vladimir A. Kasyanov, 2008)

On the other side, printers are using significant amount of energy compared to injection
molding machine. In 2009, studies at The Environmentally Benign Manufacturing showed that
direct laser metal deposition uses more than 100 times the energy. Counterfeiting is the
biggest. Anyone capable of getting their hands on a set of blueprints can replicate the process.
Currently the estimated value of counterfeiting products reached 1.2 trillion dollars globally in
2018. (Wire, 2017) This amount will continue to rise even more as more and more
counterfeiters enter the market.

Another serious issues that 3D printing faces is the technique’s theoretical ability to print
almost any item. This raises multiple concerns of which two are of utmost important. Firstly, it
lends itself to a theoretical scenario where people are able to 3D print their own guns and
weapons. Moreover, there is no consistent legislation in place in most countries which would
forbid anyone from doing so. As with any new and emerging technology governments have
been slow to act or consider all of the implications. (Walther, 2014)

Secondly 3D printing can have serious disruptive effects on the economy as it eliminates certain
aspects of scarcity and can potentially eliminate the concepts of supply and demand given that
anything can be manufactured given the right set of circumstances. However, the current lack
of accessibility to the technology and the complexity of the overall printing process make it an
unlikely scenario. (Garret, 2014)

In my opinion, 3D printing will play a big role in our lives. 3D printing can literally mass produce
or duplicate anything someone wishes to have. Nevertheless, 3D printing still has a lot
challenges to face in order to become more mainstream. The ethical and safety issues will be a
huge obstacle before legitimizing the 3D printing industry. This is a similar issues with the
cloning industry as both require heavy regulations and both open the discussion for some
serious ethical considerations. Despite this, I believe that cloning has significantly larger
implication behind it. 3D printing is going to make life simpler for humanity in a short amount of
time. It can help the medical industry by advancing and revolutionizing medical procedures.
Patients will also be able to live longer without going through a long and tedious process for an
organ transplant. Organs can be printed for them instead of require harvesting from other
individuals.

Key drivers
Fast Material availability
1. Unexpected emergencies can be handled within a reasonable time.
2. No need for huge amount of stock in storage.
3. More details can be provided for complicated or delicate procedures.
4. The study of certain regions within the human body.

Longer life expectation

1. People can have a higher lifespan due to a combination of smaller rate of errors in
surgeries and the ready availability of organs
2. Damaged or lost tissues such as skin can be easily procured and replaced when
necessary