3d Printing Research Paper

Despite the obvious benefits of 3D printing in the medical field, many people are opposed to the use of 3D printing for manufacturing implants. Opposing arguments claim that 3D printing creates unhealthy air emissions and that 3D printing materials are not safe. The form additive manufacturing called fused filament fabrication heats plastic and layers it to create 3D objects. When the plastic is heated it can release chemicals into the air that have been known to cause cancer. Some people argue that releasing carcinogens in a hospital environment is extremely dangerous and that 3D printing should not be used in hospitals for this reason. Also, some worry that the materials used to create implants will have negative effects when implanted into
the body. Some types of plastic break down over time and if implanted, will break down and cause cancer. It is true that fused filament fabrication machines give off emissions that can cause cancer, but these emissions are easy to contain. 3D printers should be operated in closed environments with air filtration to prevent cancerous emissions from affecting people. With the right safety precautions there is no danger in using a 3D printer. In order to prevent 3D printed implants from breaking down in the body, all materials that are used for implants must be FDA approved. In the case of additive manufacturing, FDA approved materials are more safe than materials used in traditional implants. Many traditional implants use metals that cause allergic reactions and break down over time. There are no health risks associated with 3D printing under the right precautions. Therefore additive manufacturing technology should continue to be developed. The laws of stem cell research and the ethics of bioengineering are brought into question with the development of additive manufacturing for organ printing.
Many arguments are made that bioprinting is not feasible or ethical. In the past, organ printing experiments have proven the difficulty of creating simple cell structures. With large amounts of money used for these projects and a high failure rate, it is easy to see this research as a waste and infeasible. Even more argued is the ethics of stem cell research pertaining to property rights and religious beliefs. The cells used for 3D printing organs come from donors that have healthy cells. Intellectual property laws do not consider living things and nature to be person or property, therefore making a persons cells not their own after they are no longer a pert of that person. Some consider the unrestricted use of a persons cells to be unjust. Also, many people feel that it is not ethical to create living organs and organisms because it goes against their religious beliefs. The creation of life is respected as sacred and should not be done synthetically. Aside from all of the arguments pertaining to bioprinting, it is possible to conduct 3D printing of organs in a feasible manner while maintaining ethical values. Research has proven the feasibility of printing organs by layering cells to create tissues. For the issue of intellectual property laws, the use of cells is restricted depending on the case. There are many
benefits to researching bioprinting, including gaining knowledge about the body and how cells interact with each other. Through the continued research of bioprinting, the rapid production of organs could become a reality. Science should not be an issue of morality, making it important that the ethics of the technology need taken into consideration as they are developed. Additive manufacturing is revolutionizing the medical field. With the advancement of additive manufacturing technology, new and better patient-specific implants can be created. There is an increasingly higher demand every year for patient specific implants. Through the aid of 3D printing, the problem of implant shortages can disappear. 3D printing makes it easy, fast, and cheap to manufacture high quality bones and medical devices that function better and a less rejection rate than traditional implants. With continued research and development of 3D printing for the medical field, better patient-specific medical devices can be produced.