By Drs A Sangiovanni, E Colli Tibaldi, C Bortolotto, E Eshja, C Peroni, L Rossi, MA Orlandi & P Poggi
Three dimensional printing (3DP) has rapidly become an accessible method for the production of physical objects for use in many biomedical and clinical applications. The technology has progressively become available to consumer end-users thanks to a reduction in the cost of printers and print materials as well as to the development of simple print software.
This article summarizes the principles behind the main 3 D printing techniques and describes some of the many medical applications of 3-D printed objects.