 Whether it’s teens waiting for the latest iPhone or an engineer looking forward to a new programing software, the world is constantly looking towards the future for the newest and most exciting technological advancements. The future fascinates and excites people because the possibilities of what can be developed are endless. The world has now developed a technology that can bring almost anything into reality, and that technology is 3D printing. A 3D printer is a printer that allows a person to develop a blueprint of anything imaginable and programs the design into the 3D printer’s system. The design is then printed layer by layer, until the object is fully printed. The advances in 3D printing has created a new branch of printing called Bioprinting. Bioprinting is where cells are printed, instead of plastic, metal, or other mediums used in 3D printers. The rise of 3D printing will generate new developments in the ways things are produced, as well as what can be produced. With these new developments, the medical field will be dramatically changed to better the lives of people.

Before 3D printing was used to develop unique and custom parts, subtractive methods were used to create these parts. Subtractive methods consist of using cutting tools like lasers and blades to whittle away at a block of material. The problem with using subtractive methods is that it is costly, requires a lot of time, and needs personnel with unique, advanced skills to operate these machines. 3D printing is a more effective method than subtractive methods “Because 3-D printers build by setting down materials as they go…” (Smith 22) Since a 3D printer works by layering materials, it is able to produce curved and delicate objects with ease. 3D printing also works faster than other manufacturing methods, because it’s able to print items with multiple parts at the same time. For example, a 3D printer could produce a wrench and a spinning nob at the same time. Whereas a manufacturer would produce the wrench separate from the nob, and at the nob at a different time. 

The method of 3D printing is based on a “layer-by-layer basis, through a series of cross-sectional slices.” (Berman) There are many of these cross-section areas where anything can be printed, so all 3D printers us a “…3-D CAD software that measures thousands of cross-sections of each product to determine exactly how each layer is to be constructed.” (Berman) Once the design has been fully analyzed, a liquid resin is released for each layer and an ultraviolet laser is used to harden the resin. After the resin is hardened, the excess resin is removed through a chemical bath. Depending on the size of the object being printed, it usually takes a few hours until the object is completely printed. 

Bioprinting is considered a version of 3D printing because both forms of printing use a layer by layer method. The focus of “…the bioprinting approach aims at building three dimensional biological structures or functional organs, layer-by-layer, from the bottom up.”  (Buillotin) Bioprinting uses a jet-based method called Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT). LIFT is the commonly used bioprinting method because of its ability to achieve a micrometer resolution. Bioprinters that use a LIFT based method are known as BioLP (Biological Laser Printer) and have shown success in being able to print peptides, DNA, and cells. The three main components of the BioLP are the laser source, the ribbon or tray on which the cells or tissue are created, and the biomaterial-like cells. The first step is mixing cells with a solution to create a biological ink. The laser is then used to form droplets from the biological ink and is placed on the ribbon. Once the droplets are placed on to the ribbon, it then begins to print cells. While the cells are being printed, the printer is programed to place the droplets close together so that the cells are touching. If the cells are close enough to each other, they will form a tissue. Bioprinting is a difficult process because when the droplets are placed onto the ribbon, splashes cannot occur or there will be issues with the tissues that are formed.  Basically to summarize the process of printing cells it is that it basically “…allows you to do is build tissue the way you assemble something with Legos.” (Griggs) The current method of bioprinting has already had great success and there is no need to change the bioprinting process.

The procedures sound complicated for 3D printing, but the capabilities of this technology are amazing. These early stages of development have already proven that 3D printing is changing the medical field for the better. The most common purposes for 3D printing in medicine is dental prosthesis and hip joints. 3D printing can also be used to cure diseases like osteomyelitis. Osteomyelitis is a disease that destroys a person’s jaw. There was an 83 year old woman who was suffering from this disease. She was cured by a simple procedure with a 3D printer that laser-sintered an artificial jaw made out of titanium in her mouth. 

After something is bioprinted in the early stages, scientists run experiments to see if the newly printed parts work efficiently. One recent experiment was run by Jeremy Mao at Columbia University. He was able to print scaffolds infused with growth factors. Mao took these scaffolds and implanted them as replacements to the hip joints in rabbits. Christopher Barnatt writes that “As Mao’s team reported in the Lancet, over a four-month period the rabbits all grew new and fully functional joints.” (Barnatt 190) Once this procedure is developed, the process of being fitted for artificial knees and hips will be nonexistent as well as the need for the artificial knees and hips.  

The experiment at Columbia University provided extremely valuable information, but recently in 2016 a similar experiment occurred at Wake Forrest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Scientists were able to bioprint an ear, jawbone, skull bone, and skeletal muscle by using what they called an “integrated tissue and organ printing system.” (St. Fleur) After the printed structures had proven that they could stay alive, they were used in an experiment. The first experiment was that a printed ear was placed under the skin on a mouse’s back to see if the ear could sustain itself with a living organism. Several months later, the mouse’s body created blood vessels that attached to the printed ear. The success with the 3D printed ear was a big deal because “Scientists have placed human-size ear structures into rodents before, but those ears were not 3-D printed, or did not keep their structure for long or did not grow cartilage and blood vessels as this one did.” (St. Fleur) Meanwhile, an experiment where muscle tissue was placed into a rat was being conducted at the same time. The results were that blood vessels and nerves formed around the implant. Both of these experiments were huge successes because they bring the possibility that 3D printed organs can one day be attached to person and their body will adapt to the organs and allow them to function. 

At Princeton University, scientists were able to print a functioning ear, along with a couple improvements. This printed ear can listen to normal frequencies that the everyday person hears. The main improvement with this ear is that it can hear beyond the range of frequencies that the normal human is capable of hearing. This ear can possibly create a new procedure that allows doctors to use this ear as a replacement for people who are born deaf or cannot hear because of an accident. In all these experiments, it is important to keep in mind that “Many 3D printed medical solutions are still in their experimental stage, but first tests are looking promising in a variety of areas.” (Hendricks) Even though an ear that can hear beyond normal human abilities can be produced, it still has to be able to work when attached to a human body, which will take time too perfect. This experiment improves the medical field by creating new opportunities and surgeries to cure patients that may not have been deemed possible. 

There are other ways besides printing organs for people that 3D printing has affected the medical field. In 2015, there was a little girl born with Tessier facial cleft, which is a rare defect altering the shape of the skull. Her eyes were separated to a distance that it affected her vision, a growth formed over her left eye, her nose had no cartilage, and the bones that fuse together for the fetal face were fused incorrectly. The surgery to repair her face was going to require a specialist in plastic surgery, and that man was Dr. Meara. As the date of the surgery grew closer, Dr. Meara had MRI scans of the little girl’s face used to create three 3D printed copies of her skull. He used two of the printed skulls to practice on and prepare for the intense surgery and the third skull was used as a demonstration to the parents. The operation was successful with adjusting the little girl’s eyes, but 3D printing allowed doctors to analyze her face so maybe one day they will be able to reconstruct her face so her features can be more symmetrical. The ability to print a replica of a patient’s skull gave the doctor foresight heading into the experiment and allowed him the ability to try new methods to simplify or improve the surgery. Drew Hendricks writes that “Such 3-D printed models are transforming medical care, giving surgeons new perspectives and opportunities to practice, and patients and their families a deeper understanding of complex procedures.” (Fedorovich) These models improve the medical field by shortening surgeries and increasing accuracy. The more developed and improved 3D printing becomes the bigger the advancements will be to the medical field. 

Not only will printing 3D models of plastic skulls and bones develop the medical field, but being able to print actual bone will further help the medical field.. Bioprinting makes the actual printing of structured bone parts possible. These parts are beneficial to heal bones, because they can be used as bone grafts. A bone graft is tissue that is used to build around a bone or implanted in the bone. With bioprinting, the value of bone grafts will increase because the requirements needed for grafting will be easier to achieve. Bioprinters will be able to produce all the necessary requirements for the procedure. Also, the personalization of bioprinting allows the bone graft to be customized to any structure that the patient may need. Not only are these bone grafts effective on patients, but they are valuable tools that scientists can use to study. Scientists can eventually fully replicate bones, which will allow them to research and discover more about bones like how diseases make bones brittle or learn about how their cells react in certain conditions. The ability to bioprint bones will improve the medical field by providing more information to limited knowledge on bones. The ability to bioprint bones will improve the medical by field by providing more knowledge about bones and alter medical procedures on bones.

3D printing has opened the eyes of scientists and doctors everywhere because of the possibilities that it presents to the medical field. 3D printing medicine capsules is one invention that isn’t too far off in the near future. These 3D printed medicine capsules could be printed in different shapes to control the release rate of medicine. This would improve the medical field by making medicine more accurate and increase the recovery rate, as well as making it cost effective for physicians and patients. Since 3D printing could possibly cut costs, this could prevent health care prices from rising as rapidly as they currently are. The most important effect 3D printing could have on medicine in the near future is getting medicine approved for use. Sam Wadsworth explains that “Before a drug can be tested in human trials it has to be tested in what are called preclinical models.” (Wadsworth) In the preclinical models, two trials are run with a Petri dish that contains a layer of cells and small animals like mice and rodents. About 90 percent of experimental drugs fail and that’s because the human body is more intricate than a single layer of cells and rodents. Since, bioprinting has been developed with the capability of replicating cells and tissue, it is possible that one day it can print replica organs. These organs will be able to mirror how human parts work, so these replicas can be used for medical tests instead of animals and the effects of the medicine should be obvious to scientists. At some point, in about a decade or so, bioprinting will be able to produce fully printed organs that can be used for more than just testing, but for transplants. Being able to create new lungs, hearts, kidneys, and etc. to be transplanted will change the medical field for the better and save many lives in the process. Not only will the transplants cure so many diseases and problems, it will also remove the need for antirejection medication for patients. Instead of using random cells to print the organs they can be taken directly from the person in need of the transplant. By using the patient’s own cells this would remove the possibility of cells rejecting each other. 

Despite all of the current uses and future possibilities that 3D printing can affect in the medical field, there are some beliefs against 3D printing uses in medicine. Some people believe that the purpose of bioprinting will change from treating patients to enhancing any body part the patient desires. When bioprinted organs for transplants begin to happen, doctors will need to examine their patients carefully to see if the organ is a dire need for the patient or if someone is trying to enhance their body. Eventually, the speed of printing will become faster and the need to determine if a patient needs treatment with bioprinted organs instead of enhancement will be nonexistent. The speed of printing has increased significantly in the past five years; at one point it took months to print a 3D model of a skull, but now it only takes a couple days. Even though some people will want to take advantage of bioprinting to enhance their bodies, the people desiring an enhancement will be monitored and doctors will be able to prioritize where 3D printed body parts go. Once the speed of bioprinting increases, the medical field will improve drastically, allowing anyone to receive a bioprinted part. 

Even though 3D printing is still relatively new, it has come a long way in helping the medical field. 3D printing was originally just to be used for prototyping plastic models of things, people did not expect it to eventually work its way into being used in the medical field. The success with 3D printing in the medical field has been tremendous, and to think only the surface has been scratched. Being able to print living cells and tissue, functioning body parts like the ear, preparing doctors for difficult surgeries, and many more uses have already done so much to make the medical field better. All the research and experiments that are currently being conducted will leave people speechless when bioprinting is used every day in medicine to save lives. 3D printing has and will continue to improve the medical field as time goes on.
