New technology is sweeping across the medical field, offering simple and effective solutions to a variety of medical ailments and conditions. The medical field is ever evolving in nature due to the increasing attention for patients and the need to solve a wide variety of medical complications.  Technology in general has taken over the 21st century, and the effects can be seen everywhere. Almost everyone in this world has dealt with a medical issue in one way or another, whether personally or someone they know. These issues can range from a simple common cold to a broken leg, and so on. Over the past decade, scientists, engineers, doctors, medical salesmen, etc., have been working tirelessly to create modules that simplify present medical devices. Although there is not a solution to every issue in the medical field concerning patients and patient care, 3-D medical devices may offer the best and most simplistic approach. Medical printing has many realistic uses for doctors and patients. Charles Hull founded the first use of 3D printing in 1988. His work, and the advances made by other researchers has revolutionized manufacturing, and has many real applications in the medical field. Medical 3-D printing is currently a 700-million-dollar industry, but the future is very promising. PubMed projects that 3-D printing, in the next ten years will grow into an 8.9-billion-dollar industry, with almost a fifth of the revenue coming from medical 3-D printing. 3-D printing is starting to become an easy, inexpensive, and in range of many consumers. 3-D printing in general is expanding at a decreasing cost. It is possible to print anything from guns, clothing, car parts, and designer jewelry. The accessibility is easy for people to gain access to, which can be promising if used in the right hand by professionals. 3-D printers can be purchased for as little as $300-$400, and sophisticated printers can cost upwards of $3000 (Al-Ali). 3-D medical printing is a promising field, and it is truly on the rise across the world. 3-D printing can revolutionize the medical field by solving complex biological and medical issues using simple materials. Medical 3D printing has many applications and has the ability to save lives. The Cost effectiveness, customization/Personalization, and enhanced productivity all contribute to why Medical 3D printing is revolutionizing healthcare. 

There are many real-life applications for the usage of medical 3-D printers in the medical field which includes organ regeneration, prosthetic and implant manufacturing, and drug dosage modification.  Bio printing organs, tissues, and medical devices is possible with medical 3-D printers, and can provide a simple and effective solution right away for complex procedures. Tissue and organ failure is especially a critical medical problem, and with the chronic shortage of human organs available for transplant, it would be beneficial to artificially produce these organs using cells from a patient’s body. This solution would also minimize the risk of tissue rejection, a potential fatal outcome for the patient. In addition, Organ transplants and follow up procedures costed more than $300 billion in 2012, a hefty price for people who truly can’t afford to wait, and pay that much money (Lee 2014). Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine could solve the organ donor shortage, which in the long run would save many lives at a much cheaper price. The strategy for a process like this is to isolate stem cells from tissue samples, mix the samples with growth factors, and proliferate the growth in the laboratory which would eventually differentiate into functioning tissues, and eventually organs. Producing soft tissues for organs would be simple. 3-D printers can precisely place cells, and control the volume and placement of the cells into tissues. Layer-by-layer, these cells and biomaterials can create a structure that can be used in patients, and fully produce a full functioning organ (Lee 2014).  Other than organ regeneration there are other useful applications such as implants, and various prostheses devices (Medical Applications of 3D Printing). 3D printing has been used successfully in the field already to produce both standard and complex customized prosthetic limbs and implants. These procedures only took 24 hours to complete, which is very convenient for a patient who is in dire need right away. “The ability to quickly produce custom implants and prostheses solves a clear and persistent problem”, a problem that occurs mainly when dealing with the orthopedic field. Previously surgeons had to modify implants and prosthetics to fit the patient specifications, but with customizable parts that fit directly with a patient’s needs, the time of surgery will be significantly reduced and simplified. This will also help to do away with wasted resources. In the world of pharmaceutical research, 3D printing has already seen a huge impact. 3D printers can control dosages using “precise control of droplet size and dose with high reproducibility” to produce various pharmaceutical medicines. 3D printers can manufacture drugs and dosages so that the dosages are smaller and more viable, and most importantly patient specific to a need. Overall, this eliminates the mass production of unwanted sorts of medicine.  

Medical 3-D printing truly can save lives as well. There are many real-life applications like said before, but these applications can be put into use to save lives as well, which is the whole goal of the medical field. Finding ways to effectively and safely save lives is one of the most important aspects of being a health care professional. Currently, there have been several noteworthy procedures involving medical 3-D printing and how people have been saved. In the future, these procedures will be a commonality. Not only can lives be saved, but the time of the procedures will reduce drastically. Surgeons now have the ability to rehearse on 3D printed organs to practice before the actual surgery which is crucial to the performance of the surgeon. Medical printing brings a solution when a times there are no other real solutions to a complex procedure. Recently, a lady with bone cancer was able to obtain a completely new jaw to get rid of the cancer that formed in her jaw bone. The recreated jaw offered a solution to her cancer. The main advantage of this type of surgery was that a new jaw was created which matched precisely the functions of her old jaw. The new bone was completely patient specific and customizable to her desires. Another example was of a 20-month-old boy in Michigan who had a collapsed bronchitis. Usually, there would be no solution to this ailment, but with a new bio printed Bronchi, the boy’s life was saved. An implant was given to him with material that matched the anatomy of a real Bronchi (Carston). 

Another aspect of 3-D medical printing that is so intriguing and beneficial is the overall cost effectiveness of the product. Not only is 3-D medical printing cost effective, it also has many benefits for doctors, patients, and manufacturers. Often when products in general hit the market they tend to be very expensive, but in the long run medical printing will be very cost effective compared to other processes.  Many of the new 3-D printed solutions are coming in at a reasonable price because there is a true demand, and a lot of people are seeking this alternative treatment. The cheapness and availability of the products has the potential to disrupt the alarming trajectory of rising health care costs. Part of the reason as to why 3-D printed solutions are cost effective is the technology that is used. The technology may seem complex but it only involves a few steps. The steps include building the solid material from a 3-D model, and then using successive layers of material that are assembled on top of one another to build the desire product. The items used in the process can be assembled directly from a digital module, which has high precision, thus removing room for error. The few materials used means that the product will be less expensive, which cuts down manufacturing costs as well. This method is distinct from older manufacturing techniques which often rely on cutting, drilling, and chopping. With less error and more precision, less products will be wasted, and manufacturing prices will essentially decrease (Drew 2017). 

Medical printing will be very beneficial in the hospital setting and will allow customization for the patients. 3-D printing will allow procedures to run faster, more efficiently, and will be a safe solution to the patients. Operating room time is a very scarce resource in the medical field, and it is alarmingly expensive costing up to and over than $100 a minute. Reducing the amount of time that a procedure takes allows for significant reductions in cost to the hospital and the patient. The reason as to why 3-D printing would take less time is due to many factors. Doctors would have the ability to conduct dry runs with medical instruments and devices prior to surgery. When a case is complicated, surgeons will be able to take their imaging data and convert that into a full model, and conduct a dry run prior to surgery (Kristen Lee).  This will allow surgeons to decide on an initial plan prior to surgery and adjust accordingly, and speed up the time of surgery. Speeding up the time of surgery will be cheaper for patients as well, and will allow hospitals to conduct more cases in a day than usual. A typical day in the hospital or surgery center consists of several cases. If the time of the cases was cut in half, this would allow more procedures to take place, which would increase overall profit for hospitals. In the long run, 3-D devices would make tremendous profit.  

Medical devices are very customizable for patients fitting their specific needs. Customizable prosthetics, implants, and fixtures can have a positive impact in terms of recovery time, and success of surgery (Lee 2014). Ceramics, metals, and all kinds of materials are used to recreate a highly complex patient specific product. 96% of all Hearing Aids are already being produced by 3-D printing, which are completely patient specific, and custom to fit any ear dimension (Carston). Patients may be concerned with the price, but the cost to custom print a 3-D object is minimal, with each item being as inexpensive as the last. Customizable parts reduce the manufacturing costs by eliminating the use of unnecessary resources which is also beneficial to the patient (Lee 2014). 

Medical printing allows for overall enhanced productivity which will also increase profit.  A 3-D printed product can be constructed and created within several hours. The new technology is much faster to produce than traditional methods of making items such as prosthetics and implants which used to require milling, forging, and a lengthy delivery time (Lee 2014). There is a surge in demand for 3-D printed objects, which means increased productivity as well. Factors leading to the growth of demand is the rising prevalence of disorders such as diabetic related gangrene cases, vascular diseases, osteoarthritis among the elderly, chronic diseases, accidents and increasing geriatric populations. These factors are collectively anticipated to fuel the revenue growth of the global 3-D medical devices market. The global 3-D printed medical market reached 279.6 million in 2016, a year-on-year growth of 17.5% (Lee 2014) Medical 3-D devices will have uses for if we live due to the concern of health among individuals every single day. Every day there are patients in need of medical assistance. The medical field will always have to solve various issues with patients every single day using either 3D technology or basic surgical techniques. Since the medical field will essentially never die out because there are new patients every day, productivity will constantly be increasing and changing in many ways. With a surge in medical technology in the recent years, profit, in effect will always increase, it all just depends on what surgeons want to use when proceeding with operations. 

A major concern with medical 3-D printing is the overall cost. Many people argue that personalized medicine like 3-D printing only favors the rich and despairs the poor. While costs in medicine will always expensive due to rising healthcare costs, 3-D printing in the long run will significantly reduce the price. When a new product hits the market, it is initially expensive, but after several years, like most manufactured items, the price will eventually decrease significantly. A full organ transplant for example requires organs from a donor which can take weeks or years, and the cost is much higher. Organ manufacturing would essentially eliminate the need for human organs, while also reducing the medical costs that is associated with transplants. There are many ethical dilemmas that may arise as well as the result of medical 3-D printing. Many of the procedures used on medical 3-D printed organs include stem cells and other living cells. This can raise many ethical questions, but using stem cells and other forms of cells can ultimately be used to save many lives, and that is what medicine is all about.  Some forms of 3-D printing only use metals and ceramics to produce functioning tissues and organs, so that alone would not raise ethical dilemmas. Lastly, people argue that medical 3-D printing will lead to human enhancements, or essentially help people live longer. Susan Dodds, a professor at the University of Tasmania argues that medical 3- D technology could be used to “develop human capacities beyond what is normal for humans” (Dodds). This could be done by replacing normal bones with artificial ones that are stronger and more flexible, or improving muscle tissue so that it is more resilient and less likely to become fatigued. These theories though would be nearly impossible to perform because use of the medical equipment would only be used by licensed doctors and practioners. This 3-D technology is solely to be used for patients in need due to serious complications, not the everyday person, who just wants to enhance their capabilities so that they perform better in certain aspects of life. 

Medical 3-D printing has many benefits today. Many people are in constant need for medical attention every day, and medical 3-D printing would greatly benefit everyone. In the world, we live in, medicine can effectively cure all kinds of conditions. Like said before, this new technology can solve ailments ranging from a prosthetic leg to a completely new organ or even manufactured bones. Although many of the research is still in its beginning stages, the possibilities for 3-d printed items is endless. Medical applications for 3D printing are expanding rapidly and will revolutionize health care. Medical printing has endless benefits, which include customization, personalization, cost effectiveness, and increased productivity (Lee 2014). Fusing together plastics, metals, ceramics, powders, liquids, and even living cells will make 3-D printing in the medical field possible. The preciseness of the manufacturing will enable a new kind of technology, a technology that will hopefully save many lives in the future to come. The medical advancements that have been made using 3D printing are significant and intriguing. Time is of essence in the process, and hopefully soon, this technology will be accessible to all. 
