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Cape Town - Technology such as 3D printing is peaking in the medical field and will allow doctors to replicate a range of biological tissues, research suggests.
Gartner has found that 3D printing (3DP) has reached the "Peak of Inflated Expectations" as devices are manufactured to individual specifications.
"In the healthcare industry, 3DP is already in mainstream use to produce medical items that need to be tailored to individuals, such as hearing aids and dental devices," said Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner.
While technology developed for the medical industry such as personalised hearing aide devices matched to a customer's ear are already being produced, the goal of human tissue printing is about 10 years away.
"Some of these R&D systems are already capable of printing cells, proteins, DNA and drugs, however there are significant barriers to mainstream adoption," said Michael Shanler, research director at Gartner.
Customised products
He said that the difficulty of 3D bio-printing would serve as a challenge to technological progress in the field.
"The sheer complexity of the items to be printed and the high maintenance requirements of these systems mean that initial deployments will be mostly limited to specialist service providers. We see mainstream adoption increasing as the systems become more diverse in their functions."
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Despite that, 3DP technology in the medical field is finding its way into the consumer market, expanding the ability of people to customise and manufacture products.
"This is evidence that using 3DP for mass customisation of consumer goods is now viable, especially given that the transition from traditional manufacturing in this market took less than two years. Routine use of 3DP for dental implants is also not far from this level of market maturity," said Basiliere.
The technology will allow medical professionals to produce products that enhance the quality of life for patients.
"Hip and knee replacements, for example, are a $15bn industry and are one of the most common surgical procedures. Early trials using personalised 3D-printed replacements indicate improved healing times and function of the implant as well as an improved success rate in more complex operations," Gartner said.
New tools such as 3D scanning will also make 3DP less reliant on CAD files and increase the accessibility of the technology.
"Technologies such as 3D scanning, 3D print creation software and 3D printing service bureaus are all maturing quickly, and all - in their own way - have the potential to make high quality 3DP more accessible and affordable," said Basiliere.
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