Advances in technology through research and development have impacted every sector of the world, from agriculture to commerce and manufacturing. Some of those impacts have made tasks and errands easier, while others have literally saved millions of lives. Scientific innovations in healthcare have made it possible for us to treat medical conditions that were once fatal or debilitating, and now, one of the most recent inventions, the 3D printer, may have taken this a step further.

What once began as a “toy” for people who could afford to use it quickly made itself known as a serious invention. The 3D printer was invaluable in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as a legitimate way to produce parts for ventilators and other medical tools. Researchers and healthcare professionals have grabbed on to the potential of this invention and are now looking at the feasibility of using it to print 3D organs for surgical use.

The Origins of the 3D Printer

Although it has only recently made global headlines, the idea of the 3D printer stretches back as far as the 1970s. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology, as it is officially called, is the most recent and well-known type of 3D printing, but it’s not the first.

Back in 1981, Dr. Kodama made the first attempt at 3D printing with a rapid prototyping technique, introducing the idea of a manufacturing approach that went layer by layer. Later, a team of French engineers used the idea of this stereolithography to experiment further with 3D, and this approach was piggybacked off of by Charles Hull in 1986, the first person to file a patent for stereolithography. Hull then founded the company 3D Systems Corporation. In 1988, he released a product called the SLA-1, the first commercial 3D printing technology.

Fused Deposition Modeling has grown since then, with different companies becoming founded and more patents using the same idea but unique technologies to complete the final product as we know it today.

How the 3D Printer Has Improved Society

With 3D printing, there have been substantial gains in societal improvement in many ways, such as:

●      Disaster relief, with the 3D printer used to make water pipe fittings and washers after an earthquake in Nepal and by makers in Japan who created a 3D printed drone to assist in search and rescue missions.

●      Affordable housing programs after disasters hit and people are left homeless. 3D printed housing could be the solution to this, since a 3D printed house could be built for as little as $4,000 and have it completed in less than 24 hours.

●      Prosthetics for children and people in developing countries. 3D printing can be used to create complex, yet affordable, prosthetics for those who otherwise would be unable to gain access to them.

●      Affordable healthcare. Currently, 3D printing is used in medical and dental offices to create things like titanium and polymer implants, complete knee, hip, and spine replacements, and more.

In fact, 3D printing has integrated so well into society already that you probably don’t even realize it’s around you until it’s pointed out. With the success of 3D printed technology in these aspects and others, some researchers are ready to see how this science can be used in surgical situations.

Using 3D Organs in Surgery

The idea of creating prosthetics and body parts on demand has led to the next level of technological advancement: 3D printing of implantable devices. These organs could be customized uniquely for each patient. By printing functional biological replacement tissues, 3D printing is becoming a feasible solution for what used to be a long wait, if not a deadly one, for some people awaiting organ donors.

3D printing of blood vessels is currently in heavy research as scientists strive to find ways for cells to be deposited by the printer in patterns that end up creating a biological organ in layers. Through biocompatible material, stem cells are deposited, ultimately creating implantable 3D printed living organs.

With this technology on the table, once it is perfected and ready for use, there won’t be a need for people to wait until a viable organ donor is available before they can receive a heart, lung, kidney, or liver transplant, some of the most in-need, yet sorely lacking, organ transplant surgeries pending.

From prosthetics to 3D organs, the world could truly be full of bionic people in the near future.