September - 2019193D PRINTING: A TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGY IN THE HEALTHCARE SPACEUdayabhanu Jammalamadaka, Staff Scientist, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisByPlease elaborate on the challenges that the healthcare care delivery system is facing today. Every person is unique as the physical, anatomical, and physiological aspects of every individual are different. Until now we were using a "one size fits for all" treatment approach which brings in a lot of complications. To address this concern, the concept of personalized medicine promises be a better approach to treat all kinds of ailments effectively. But the major challenge here is that it is difficult to synthesize a unique dosage form for a patient to treat a particular disease. Before 3D printing came in everything was mass produced and changing the quantity, and the dosage in small batches was probably expensive and did not prove to be an ideal model. But with 3D printing, we can create small batches of dosage forms or different pills which can be specific to a particular group of patients based on their BMI/age/disease conditions etc. What are the current market trends you see shaping the Healthcare space?Biomedical innovations, personalized medicine and machine learning are going to shape new ways in healthcare space. Biomedical innovation such as nanosensors, microfluidic devices have enabled faster and accurate diagnosis methods. Personalized medicine focuses on value based and outcome based treatment methods by tailoring treatment strategies to patient needs. 3D printing is an important tool that enables personalized medicine. Machine learning is enabling improvements in areas diagnosis, treatment and patient information management by analyzing contemporary methods. What is the role of 3D printing in transforming the Healthcare industry?Currently, 3D printing is being used not only for drug delivery but also for performing surgery which is one of the major applications of the tech. Having a 3D model prior operating will assist surgeons to understand the minute details that he may otherwise fail to notice. There is also progress on how the billing is done for these surgical models, right now it is in the category three, but I think insurance companies would step up and start filling those as well which would improve the patient outcome and hasten better treatment of the patients. 3D printing is used in almost every field including healthcare, mechanical engineering, aeronautical engineering, and recently, even food industries are adopting 3D printing to create some new food items. Bio-printing is another application which is all set to diversify into a vast industry that aims to create substitutive tissues for Udayabhanu JammalamadakaCXO Insights
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