Dear Colleagues,

In the past decade, 3D printing has emerged as a versatile technology platform for the rapid manufacturing for application on medicine. 3D printing is advantageous in terms of design freedom, automation, production speed, great accuracy, customization, and limited waste generation. By reducing the complexity of manufacturing system, designers can produce entire systems using fewer subcomponents with more complex geometries. Moreover, 3D printing has the potential to approach zero-waste manufacturing by maximizing material utilization. This novel production method enables the efficient creation and modification of physical models for validation purposes during the production process. Any design errors can be identified in advance, and the resulting changes can be introduced in the early stages of product development, eliminating the need for expensive corrections at later stages of the process. In addition, 3D printing is less wasteful in terms of both construction materials and replacement tools.

Although the direct costs of production with new methods and materials are usually higher, the flexibility offered by 3D printing substantially lowers the total cost. 3D printing is overtaking traditional machining and casting techniques for designing and manufacturing various biomedical devices. The benefits of 3D printing include not only the customization of medical products, equipment, and drugs but also increased productivity, specificity, and cost-effectiveness.

In the biomedical field, 3D printing technologies are applied in:

(1) the creation of personalized prosthetics, implants, and anatomical models;

(2) the reconstruction of organs and tissues;

(3) the manufacturing of medical instruments.

Moreover, 3D printing can be harnessed for pharmaceutical research on the dosage forms, production, and delivery of drugs and for innovative medical device manufacturing. Commercially available 3D-printed medical devices include implants (e.g., cranial plates or hip joints), external prostheses (e.g., hands), and instrumentations (e.g., guides to assist with proper surgical placement of a device).

Prof. Dr. Barbara Zavan
Prof. Stefano Sivolella
Dr. Alfredo Ronca
Guest Editors

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• 3D printing
• biomaterials
• tissue engineering
• regenerative medicine
• bioprinting
• bio-ink
• cell-laden hydrogels
• chemically modified polymers
• cells
• exosomes