Advancements in 3D printing of functional materials for biomedical applications: challenges, opportunities, and case studies: a critical review

Abstract

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, has revolutionized the biomedical industries by printing customized parts on demand. AM offers the flexibility of developing customized implants with high precision at a much-reduced cost and in less time. The materials required for biomedical applications need to be biocompatible in nature. Studies have shown that the manufacturing technique has a significant effect on the material properties, so it is important to study the properties of biomaterial produced through additive manufacturing. Metallic implants fabricated by the AM technique showed better properties (mechanical and biomedical) and recovery than conventionally manufactured implants. There are several studies reported on additively manufactured biomaterials

however, there is a lack of literature review in this domain which summarizes the applicability of overall findings. Special attention is required to present a review of new biomaterials fabricated by AM that may enhance the biocompatibility, cell growth, and mechanical properties of biomedical implants. Incorporating materials such as Ta, Zr, Mo, TCP, HAP, etc., as alloys or reinforcement results into enhancement in biocompatibility and mechanical properties of the commercial implant materials. The present review articles provide an overview of previously reported biomaterial processing methods via additive manufacturing, along with their applications, advantages, disadvantages, and properties. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.