Recent Technological Improvements on Healthcare

^*Dilsad Akal

PhD, Auditor and Vice President in the Guidance and Inspection Board at the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ankara, Turkey

Dr. Dilsad Akal, Auditor and Vice President in the Guidance and Inspection Board at the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ankara, Turkey.

Keywords: Technology; Healthcare; 3D Printing

Abstract

Technology is indispensable part of our daily life and it affects everything including health care implications. One of the products of these improvements is 3D printing. It is a manufacturing technique used even in healthcare systems as additives such as producing 3D drug products, medical devices, tissues and organs from digital designs. Various dosage forms of drugs, prosthetics, medical devices and artificial tissues and organs are all the products of 3D printing. Using 3D printers gives the opportunity to the producers manufacturing the final products forming by succesively additing the layers of materials such as plastics, metals, drugs and cell culture. According to a report by Phil Reeves (2013), more than 10 million hearing aids are in circulation that were created by 3D printing. Dental instruments such as crowns, bridges, plaster/stone models and an extensive range of orthodontic appliances have been manufactured by Stratasys, Envisiontec, and Zenith etc. The anatomical models, which are created by using 3Ds are also helpful for teaching process. During that process, virtual surgical planning, algorithm verification and validation are all achieved by using 3D printers. Researches and efforts are continuing to being made to produce a fully functional liver for transplant.

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