Rise of 3D printing to combat COVID-19

India is still in the early stages of 3D printing deployment and in the post-COVID-19 world, 3D printing and perhaps 3D bioprinting will play a major role in advancing and improving healthcare in India.

- Dr Murugan Ramalingam

When the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis wanes globally, what would the healthcare sector look like? Additive manufacturing industry has stepped up to the challenge in the current crisis to support the healthcare sector where regular manufacturers are unable to meet the increasing demand for medical supplies due to rising number of critical cases.

Due to the rising number of critical cases, the conventional medical device industry is unable to meet the large-scale production of the required critical equipment such as ventilators, respirators or personal protective equipment (PPE’s) for healthcare professionals. In such dire circumstances, additive manufacturing technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) printing may provide respite in facilitating on-demand printing of required medical devices or personal care items. 3D printing is a process in which material such as plastics, metals, and ceramics are deposited in a layer-by-layer fashion creating an intricate and complex shapes in 3D space.