State of the art in 3D printing

3D printing (3DP) in healthcare is an ever-expanding field. Applications of 3DP become part of clinical practice and biomedical research because the production is no longer constrained by design complexity. Well-established applications range from surgical planning to the production of surgical guides, prostheses, and customized implants, accompanied by many emerging applications ranging from the creation of anthropomorphic medical imaging phantoms, customized drugs, to the most modern 3D bioprinting. This chapter explores the state of the art of 3DP in healthcare, starting from the various 3DP technologies and applications and then defining the general workflow to move from medical images to printable models (in STL—standard tessellation/triangulation language) of organs or anatomical structures. To provide a complete picture, the mesh refinement and correction process, printability requirements, resolution, accuracy, and reproducibility of the various 3DP technologies and materials available are also examined depending on the applications.