Additive manufacturing meets medicine

Additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing, has long since proven its suitability for everyday use. However, many questions remain unanswered for use in medicine. Complex melting and hardening processes take place during the layer-by-layer construction of medical devices from liquid or solid materials, the physical-chemical modelling of which is often still pending, so that a discussion forum is to be given at AMMM on topics relating to the achievable precision and the expected technical properties of the medical devices produced in this way. Questions about the precision and interaction of the printed materials with their future application matrix are important for all industries. However, these requirements are of particular interest in the medical environment, where biological compatibility and long-term stability are of particular importance. Medical technology companies are also faced with the question of whether this modern manufacturing technology should only be used in prototype and individualized sample development or also in series production. Costs and benefits have to be assessed very individually. AMMM 2019 will focus on these questions, with particular emphasis on the medical device regulation of patient-specific devices.