Medical applications of rapid prototyping - From applications to classification

Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies are widely used in industrial settings and currently also in several areas of medicine. Various techniques along with numerous types of materials are used for these applications. Therefore, a classification system would aid the development and scientific work as well as the communication between centres involved in this field. Our ongoing project on the medical applications of RP has involved six investigational areas. These include "Biomanufacturing" (tissue engineering + RP), models for preoperative planning, inert implants, orthodontic treatment, postoperative support structures and surgical special instruments. Based on this experience and available literature we have categorized the applications into five groups based on the solution which they yield. These groups form the basis for our classification. We propose a solution rather than technology based classification to be used regarding the development of medical applications of RP. The representative case studies of our project as well as the available literature are discussed in the light of this proposal.