Imagine you need a complicated and risky operation to insert an implant into your brain. The implant has been custom designed for you and printed on the hospital’s 3D printer. Earlier, your surgeon used a 3D-printed model of your brain to practice the operation. And she’s printed a precise, sterile surgical tool to use during the procedure.

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The future of medicine? It might seem like science fiction but 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is on the path to revolutionise medicine.

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Proponents say the technology could speed up surgical procedures, produce customised prosthetics and even print human tissue capable of replacing organs. And it comes with some big advantages. RMIT 3D printing expert Alex Kingsbury says where typical manufacturing might have a batch size of 100,000, 3D printing offers a batch size of one. That means it’s easy to manufacture a single product designed for a […]

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