3D Printing Technology in Nanomedicine

Nabeel Ahmad, Gopinath Packirisamy, Rajiv Dutta, P. Gopinath

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780128158906
• eBook ISBN: 9780128158913
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Materials Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

3D Printing Technology in Nanomedicine provides an integrated and introductory look into the rapidly evolving field of nanobiotechnology. It demystifies the processes of commercialization and discusses legal and regulatory considerations. With a focus on nanoscale processes and biomedical applications, users will find this to be a comprehensive resource on how 3D printing can be utilized in a range of areas, including the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of human diseases.- Examines the emerging market of 3D-printed biomaterials and their clinical applications, with a particular focus on both commercial and premarket tools- Examines the promising market of 3D-printed nanoparticles, nanomaterial, biomaterials, composite nanomaterial and their clinical applications in the cardiovascular and chemotherapy realms- Develops the concept of integrating different technologies along the hierarchical structure of biological systems

Chapter 1

3D Printing in Medicine

Current Challenges and Potential Applications

Ashish, M.TECH, Nabeel Ahmad, PhD, P. Gopinath, PhD, and Alexandr Vinogradov, PHD

Abstract

Since its introduction in the 1980s, the three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has evolved to revolutionize both scientific community and academician. The wide range of currently available manufacturing technologies provides a versatile platform for converting a prototype into a physical model. Importance of 3D printing is not only restricted to industrial area but the impact of 3D printing is also expanding in medical field in a wide range of applications including fabrication of patient-specific complex medical and anatomical structures, customized medical prostheses, implants and surgical tools, tissue and organ printing, 3D printed in vitro tissue models, drug screening purposes, advancement of physicians, and patient education. Despite significant and exciting improvements, there are many substantial challenges and barriers to the progression of 3D printing. In this chapter, we encompass the process of 3D printing, historical perspective, types of 3D printing technologies, their applications in medicine, and finally discuss various challenges to the progression of 3D printing in medicine. In the upcoming years, we believe that integration of researchers from different fields will address the challenges and barriers of 3D printing to transform the field of medicine.

Keywords

3D printing; Additive manufacturing; Organ printing; Tissue models

Introduction to Three-Dimensional Printing

The three-dimensional (3D) printing is a rapidly evolving revolutionary technology that is getting substantial interest from both scientific community and academician with users from various domains such as automotive, product designer, aerospace, engineers, consumer goods industry, architecture, military, chemical industry, food industry, fashion industry, and medical field.^1,2 Importance of 3D printing is not only restricted to industrial area but the impact of 3D printing is also expanding in medical field in a wide range of applications including tissue designs, tissue engineering, organ printing, diagnostic platforms, dentistry, biomedical devices, anatomical models, drug designing, and delivery systems.^3,4 It allows the fabrication of complex medical and anatomical structures specific for patients utilizing the data set from various imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scan.^5,6 In addition, it is being used in replacing, repairing the defective organs (skin, heart, and kidney), or creating new organ that will have the same functioning as that of original human organs.⁷ Anything ranging from jewelry, eyeglasses to clothing and medical implant, prosthetic devices, and car parts to the therapeutic drug can be printed in almost any shape or geometry using this technology. Essentially, it converts an idea or concept into a prototype by extracting design from 3D computer-aided design (CAD) files, thereby allowing the fabrication of user-defined products and physical objects with precise digital control.⁸ It is a methodology where materials such as powder, metal, alloy, thermoplastics, polymeric, ceramic, wood, paper multimaterial, and biological materials (living cells) are positioned successively into layers on top of each other (bottom-up approach) thus enabling the fabrication of desired 3D object in a controlled manner.⁹ Therefore, 3D printing is also known by other terminologies as layered manufacturing, additive manufacturing, computer automated manufacturing, rapid prototyping, or solid freeform technology (SFF).⁸ In conventional or subtractive methodologies (molding, machining, forming, casting, injection, laser cutting), final object or design is being formed by successively subtracting the material from the bulk substance. Usually, nonstandard geometries and multimaterial object are not possible with these processes due to the inability of the tool used.^10,11 In contrast, 3D printing is a technique where objects are constructed additively by placing specific material in layers one cross-sectional layer at a time.¹⁰ Therefore, when compared with conventional or subtractive manufacturing processes, 3D printing technologies are cost-effective, automated, rapid, easy to use, on-demand, flexible, customized, and sophisticated and thus used by the user from different backgrounds.^12–14

Process of 3D Printing

First by using the digital design software (Autocad, Autodesk, Creo parametric, Onshape, Mimics, 3Matic, Solidworks, and Google SketchUp), 3D digital scanners, or phone-based applications, digital virtual 3D design of an object is created.^2,15,16 Then, this digital model is converted into standard tessellation language or stereolithography (.STL) digital file format. Almost all 3D printing technologies are compatible with this file format. The .STL file includes a list of triangulated facets that indicate the information about the surfaces of the 3D model. Increased number of triangles indicates more number of data points in a text file (higher resolution of the device).² The procedure of conversion of 3D model to .STL digital file is essentially automatic in most 3D printing systems; however, sometimes there is a chance of errors during this process. Software such as Magics (Materialise) is usually used to rectify the errors in .STL files conversion. It is important to note that in general .STL file format does not include features such as type and properties of the material, color, surface texture, units, or any other feature details. Therefore, other types of file format such as additive manufacturing file format (AMF) and 3D manufacturing format (3 MF) have been introduced to conquer the drawbacks of the simple .STL format.¹⁷

Specialized slicer software present in the 3D printer converts the .STL file into G file by slicing the design into a series of the 2D horizontal cross-section (generally in the range of 25–100 μm), and then the base of the 3D object is created by moving the print head in the x-y direction. Subsequently, the complete three-dimensional (3D) objects are created by repetitively moving the print head in the z-direction and depositing the desired material into layers sequentially.^2,8 However, the procedure for construction of layers primarily depends on the type of 3D printing technology used. The generalized steps in the fabrication process of 3D printing are described in Fig. 1.1.

Historical Perspective

In early 1980s Charles Hull was working on the development of plastic devices utilizing photopolymers but the limitations of existing technology (lengthy procedures, less accuracy) motivated him to improve the technology of prototype development. In 1984 Hull invented apparatus for a new layer-by-layer printing technology named as “stereolithography”. Later in 1986 Hull also founded the company “3D systems” and provided the term .STL that was compatible with the existing CAD software to design the 3D object. In 1987, SLA-1 3D printer was introduced. In 1988 the company came up with the first commercially available 3D printer (SLA-250).² In 1989 Deckard a graduate student at the University of Texas introduced another important technology selective laser sintering (SLS).¹⁹ In 1992 Scott Crump patented another modified 3D printing technology, that is, fused deposition modeling (FDM).²⁰ In 1993 E. Sachs and M. ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1. 3D Printing in Medicine: Current Challenges and Potential Applications
• Chapter 2. Techniques and Software Used in 3D Printing for Nanomedicine Applications
• Chapter 3. Fabrication of Biopolymer-Based Organs and Tissues Using 3D Bioprinting
• Chapter 4. Polymeric Materials for 3D Bioprinting
• Chapter 5. 3D Print Technology for Cell Culturing
• Chapter 6. 3D Bioprinting for Organs, Skin, and Engineered Tissues
• Chapter 7. 3D Printing for In vitro and In vivo Disease Models
• Chapter 8. 4D and 5D Printing: Healthcare’s New Edge
• Chapter 9. Market Demands in 3D Printing Pharmaceuticals Products
• Index