During the CAD-CAM crown procedure, instead of taking physical impressions, a dentist uses optical or laser scanning technology to capture a digital image of the tooth from all angles. The dental practitioner uses special 3D software to design the crown and sends it to a mill located in the office. The dentist then places a block of porcelain in the mill to form the tooth. Drills in the mill carve and shape the tooth, following the pattern of the mold sent via scan.

UCLA and Bioprinting Company Aether have collaborated to work towards 3D Printed Artificial Muscles by working together to develop technologies for faster, easier fabrication of soft artificial muscles and other multi-material structures. Aether will work on optimizing the Aether 1 bioprinter and its computer vision capabilities to automate the process of 3D printing soft robotic devices, improve print quality and ease of use and has also planned to launch software that will allow users to create 3D printable organs from medical images with the push of a button in around 2019.

A group of researchers developed an inexpensive, 3D Printable Neuraxial Anesthesia Phantom through the use of free/libre/open-source (FLOS) software and data from CT scans to create a 3D model of the lumbar spine, which was then modified, put inside a digitally designed housing unit, and 3D printed out of PLA on a desktop system. The so 3d Printed Neuraxial Anesthesia Training Model cost only $13 and 25 hours of non-supervised 3D printing and two hours to assemble it, much less than creating a Simulab phantom.

A study conducted at Technical University of Munich (TUM) described their virtual workflow, and also analyzed how effective semi-automated intraoral molding plate generation, or RapidNAM, is for helping to treat Cleft Lip and Palate (CLP). A 3D triangulation scanner from 3Shape in Denmark was used to digitalize the casts, and after creating a graphical user interface (GUI), an algorithm automatically detected the alveolar ridge, in order to find the monthly growth rate in the anatomical study of 32 healthy newborn babies. Special 3D software was used to help with plate expansions during the manual plate molding.

A Research paper was recently published by Preethy Ani Jose, with the Oxford College of Pharmacy, and Peter Christopher GV, from pharmaceutical company Strides Shasun Limited in Bangalore, concerning the challenges faced by Pharmaceuticals when being introduced with 3D Printing. The paper presents regulatory agencies expectations, limitations, problems in establishing such setups for production of drug products, etc. The research paper also discusses how 3D Printing faces challeneges such as proper testing of Design and Manufacturing Process Considerations, validating the 3D printing process and software to determine the level of accuracy, and documentation in order to confirm that any products conform to existing guidelines.

A research conducted at The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in Zhejiang, China, provides insights to the use of 3D Printing in medical field. 48 patients suffering from distal radius fractures (one of the most common type of upper body injuries) participated in the study, with a 3D model made of each break using CT scans and Mimics software before being 3D Printed in PLA. The research concluded the advantage with more accurate diagnosis and surgery, faster procedure time, less blood loss in patients, and frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy.

Researchers from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona studied the five models for use in training with simulation of both Freehand and Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Placement, with all models evaluated and then scored by junior and senior residential spine surgeons. All 3D Printed Barrow Biomimetic Spine model were created with Meshmixer software, imported back into Simplify3D software, and then 3D printed on a FlashForge Creator Pro with an affordable cost of $50-$70.

The University of Gdansk, Poland, has ventured into era of 3D Printing and launched "3D Printing in Medicine", a medical course, first of its kind. Led by Paediatricians, and supplied by Zortrax, it aims to provide theoretical as well as practical scenarios to the students to further discover creating and utilizing 3D Printing Models for Medicine.

Align Technology, a leading Orthodontic Company using 3D Printing has made a recent announcement with press release stating they will now acquire Global Dental CAD/CAM software firm, Exocad.  The two companies have signed a cash deal for the purchase of the privately held company for around 376 million Euro which is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020. The two companies see it as an opportunity to expand the orthodontic market  for doctors by integrating clear aligner orthodontics and restorative treatment with flexible, reliable, and easy-to-use CAD/CAM software and digital workflows.

3D Systems, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is a company that engineers, manufactures and sells 3D printers and is one of the leaders in field of 3D Printing. Recently at LMT Lab Day at Chicago, they announced a software workflow for 3D printing up to 30 orthodontic models in a single print using its NexDent 5100 3D printer, NextDent Model 2.0 Software, and 3D Sprint software. The new auto-stacking feature will be available in NextDent 5200 users and will make it possible to automatically prepare and place dental models on the build plate with a single click.

Researchers from Seoul, Korea, worked towards using 3D Printing to enhance Spine Surgeries by creating a new Endoscope-Assisted Spine Surgery System involving combined cannula, featuring one cannula for the endoscope and the other for surgical instruments, with major and minor axis diameters of 10.34 mm and 9.16 mm, respectively. The creation of Test Spine Model involved: Create 3D Design from 2D data from MRI and CT scans; 3D Print spine components; Fabricate silicone molds with the 3D printed spine components; Make spine components with required properties and Assemble the patient-specific model. Imaging data was imported to slicing software, with models then 3D printed on a Creatable D3.