-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
3D Printing and Medical Electronics: A Disruptive Beneficial Technology
December 11, 2018 | Dan Feinberg, Technology Editor, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
It seems that every few months, we hear about new advances in disruptive technologies. As these technologies become accepted to a greater degree, there are additional areas to research. One of the areas we have been following is additive/semi-additive 3D manufacturing with PCB fabrication as the main focus.
However, another innovative area is 3D-printed manufactured devices, replacement body parts, and medications in the medical industry. We are seeing significant advances and increased uses for 3D manufacturing in medicine—many more than 3D-printed and conductive circuits on device structural components (e.g., conductors printed on a device wall or structural angle, etc.). There is enough movement in this area that 3D additive fabrication in medicine—including but not limited to 3D-printed circuits—has become its own topic, and one that we will be watching and continuing to cover.
Overview
First, let’s take a look at the present status of this segment to set a foundation for future coverage, especially as we are about to enter the high-tech trade show season where new advances will be introduced. Since we are discussing 3D-printed devices that are used on or in the human body, let’s review the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) definition.
“3D printing is a type of additive manufacturing. There are several types of additive manufacturing, but the terms ‘3D printing’ and ‘additive manufacturing’ are often used interchangeably. Here, we will refer to both as 3D printing for simplicity. 3D printing is a process that creates a three-dimensional object by building successive layers of raw material. Each new layer is attached to the previous one until the object is complete. Objects are produced from a digital 3D file, such as a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing or a magnetic resonance image (MRI). The flexibility of 3D printing allows designers to make changes easily without the need to set up additional equipment or tools. It also enables manufacturers to create devices matched to a patient’s anatomy (patient-specific devices) or devices with very complex internal structures. These capabilities have sparked huge interest in the 3D printing of medical devices and other products, including food, household items, and automotive parts.”
Figure 1: 3D-printed dentures.
As those of you who have followed our coverage of disruptive technologies know, 3D additive technology has transformed many industry segments already, which includes significant changes to the medical and dental industries. 3D printing has been used to manufacture dentures and other oral implants for years but is also proving to be useful in other areas (Figure 1). For example, I recently chose to have a tooth replaced with an implant. In the past, it was necessary for the oral surgeon to take numerous X-rays from differing angles, combine them, and use them to measure and create the specifications for the implant fabricator. This time, I only had to do a single 360° 3D image that allowed the surgeon to design the perfect implant at the exact size and shape needed with CAD. The entire process took 15 minutes. It is no wonder that fast, high-quality 3D scanning has replaced X-rays as the preferred method of gathering the necessary data for so many areas of medicine.
Beyond dental devices, 3D printing is also being used to manufacture an entirely new generation of advanced medical implants that can be customized for individual patients’ bodies. It is also starting to become commonly used in numerous areas, such as surgery planning and patient consultations. In addition, as we have seen at the last few consumer electronics shows (CESs), 3D-printed manufacturing technology is revolutionizing the prosthetic and assistive devices segments. 3D-printed manufacturing is now providing access to reasonably priced, highly customized and optimized prosthetics for individual needs on a case-by-case basis (Figure 2).
Figure 2: 3D prosthetic.
According to a new market report from London-based industrial research firm Future Market Insights, the unexpected growth of the 3D-printed medical devices market is likely to be a fixture for some time to come. The report notes that medical communities worldwide are adopting 3D printing technology, and the use of 3D-printed devices at a consistent and rapid pace. It adds that the technology is leading to significantly improved quality of care for patients and is capable of reducing the average procedure time for most surgical applications.
This new industry benefits patients, and it also provides great improvements for doctors and hospitals by lowering the strain placed on already overworked staff. Overall, 3D printing leads to lower costs, which benefits those who would never have been able to afford traditionally manufactured devices. Now, people can afford and use greatly improved devices—such as my dental implant—rather than having to have a false tooth like my parents’ generation had to endure.
To read the full article, which appeared in the November 2018 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Tools, Training, and Trends in Manufacturing Engineering
04/25/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOGuest Editor Kelly Dack and Product Specialist Erik Bateham of Polar Instruments discuss Polar's latest technology, including their role in aiding manufacturing engineers. They highlight the advanced capabilities of Polar's tools and the critical role of signal integrity analysis, as well as the importance of accurate modeling in board manufacturing. Polar's unique training approach and demonstration contact details are also explored.
TTM Celebrates the Grand Opening of Its First Manufacturing Facility in Penang
04/25/2024 | TTM Technologies, Inc.TTM Technologies, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of technology solutions including mission systems, radio frequency (RF) components and RF microwave/microelectronic assemblies, and quick-turn and technologically advanced printed circuit boards (PCBs), officially opened its first manufacturing plant in Penang, Malaysia with an investment of USD200 million (approximately RM958 million).
Listen Up! The Intricacies of PCB Drilling Detailed in New Podcast Episode
04/25/2024 | I-Connect007In episode 5 of the podcast series, On the Line With: Designing for Reality, Nolan Johnson and Matt Stevenson continue down the manufacturing process, this time focusing on the post-lamination drilling process for PCBs. Matt and Nolan delve into the intricacies of the PCB drilling process, highlighting the importance of hole quality, drill parameters, and design optimization to ensure smooth manufacturing. The conversation covers topics such as drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, vias, challenges in drilling, and ways to enhance efficiency in the drilling department.
Elevating PCB Design Engineering With IPC Programs
04/24/2024 | Cory Blaylock, IPCIn a monumental stride for the electronics manufacturing industry, IPC has successfully championed the recognition of the PCB Design Engineer as an official occupation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). This pivotal achievement not only underscores the critical role of PCB design engineers within the technology landscape, but also marks the beginning of a transformative journey toward nurturing a robust, skilled workforce ready to propel our industry into the future.
Fujitsu, METRON Collaborate to Drive ESG Success
04/24/2024 | JCN NewswireFujitsu Limited and METRON SAS, a French cleantech company specializing in energy management solutions for industrial decarbonization, today announced a strategic initiative to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality in the manufacturing industry.