Biomedical applications of additive manufacturing: Present and future

Three dimensional printing (3DP) or additive manufacturing (AM) of medical devices and scaffolds for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, ex-vivo tissues and drug delivery is of intense interest in recent years. A few medical devices namely, ZipDose (R), Pharmacoprinting, powder bed fusion, HPAM (TM), bio-printer and inkjet printer received FDA clearance while several biomedical applications are being developed. This paper reviews influence of type of AM method and process parameters on the surface topography, geometrical features, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, in vitro, and in vivo performance of diverse orthopedic applications. Attempts have been made to identify gaps, suggest ideas for future developments, and to emphasis the need of standardization.