Sustainable open-source medical devices manufactured with green biomaterials and accessible resources

Additive manufacturing technologies, especially affordable 3D printers and bioprinters, emerge as sustainability promotion resources, thanks to the possibility of processing green and circular biomaterials from industrial waste, creating value with them. Among industries benefiting from these possibilities, healthcare sector, which takes advantage from the personalization degree of biomedical devices and products achievable through 3D (bio)printing, stands out as socially impactful. Indeed, biomedical devices manufactured with green and circular biomaterials using accessible resources can contribute to achieving equitable and eco-efficient solutions, while generating economic growth and decent work. This is of special relevance for low and middle-income settings, which may benefit from point-of-care production of medical technologies for solving challenging supply chain issues, directly manufacturing open-source solutions from the cloud and employing do-it-yourself materials. In order to generate debate on how to promote the impacts in this area, the current study summarizes research and innovation trends and discusses existing capabilities and challenges. Opinions of authors are presented and supported by an important set of publications and projects focused on healthcare equity and sustainability.

Automated summary

Additive manufacturing technologies, especially 3D printers and bioprinters, promote sustainability by processing waste materials and creating value. In healthcare, personalized biomedical devices manufactured with sustainable materials contribute to solving supply chain issues and driving economic growth.