Open AccessIndustrial applications of 3D printing to scale-up production of COVID-19-related medical equipment
Author(s) -
Muhammad Zaheer Abbas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of 3d printing in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2059-4763
pISSN - 2059-4755
DOI - 10.2217/3dp-2021-0003
Subject(s) - 3d printing , covid-19 , supply chain , economic shortage , scale (ratio) , business , product (mathematics) , pandemic , globe , emerging technologies , manufacturing engineering , production (economics) , computer science , engineering , marketing , medicine , economics , mechanical engineering , philosophy , mathematics , government (linguistics) , macroeconomics , linguistics , ophthalmology , geometry , quantum mechanics , physics , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , artificial intelligence , pathology
Additive manufacturing or 3D printing allows the rapid conversion of information from digital 3D models into physical objects. The current COVID-19 crisis underscored the value of 3D-printing technology in addressing critical shortages in the medical product supply chain. This article provides a review of the significant role of additive manufacturing technologies in addressing the COVID-19 situation. This article concludes that 3D printing has an important role in global public health because of its potential to adapt to emerging situations far more easily and quickly as compared with conventional manufacturing methods. There is a need for further research to improve the technology to mass produce better quality products more economically. Currently, the 3D-printing industry is concentrated in the US and Western Europe. Policy efforts are needed to tap all markets across the globe in order to be better prepared for a future pandemic.