3D Printing and Bio-Based Materials in Global Health

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. The Current Global Surgical Care Paradigm: An Introduction

   • Sujata K. Bhatia, Krish W. Ramadurai

   Pages 1-20

3. 3-Dimensional Printing and Rapid Device Prototyping

   • Sujata K. Bhatia, Krish W. Ramadurai

   Pages 21-38

4. 3-Dimensional Device Fabrication: A Bio-Based Materials Approach

   • Sujata K. Bhatia, Krish W. Ramadurai

   Pages 39-61

5. 3-Dimensional Printing of Medical Devices and Supplies

   • Sujata K. Bhatia, Krish W. Ramadurai

   Pages 63-93

6. 3-Dimensional Printing: Interventional Capacities in the Global Health Arena

   • Sujata K. Bhatia, Krish W. Ramadurai

   Pages 95-115

This book examines the potential to deploy low-cost, three-dimensional printers known as RepRaps in developing countries to fabricate surgical instruments and medical supplies to combat the “global surgical burden of disease.” Approximately two billion people in developing countries around the world lack access to essential surgical services, resulting in the avoidable deaths of millions of individuals each year. A fundamental barrier that inhibits access to surgical care in these locations is the lack of basic surgical instruments and supplies in healthcare facilities. RepRap printers are highly versatile 3D printers assembled from basic, domestically sourced materials that can fabricate low-cost surgical instruments on-site, ultimately enhancing the interventional capacity of healthcare facilities to treat patients.

Rather than focusing on one specific field of interest, this book takes an integrative approach that incorporates topics and methods from multiple disciplines ranging from global health and development economics to materials science and applied engineering. These topics include the feasibility of using bio-based plastics to fabricate surgical instruments via 3D printing sustainably, the application of "frugal innovation and engineering” in resource-poor settings, and analyses related to the social returns on investment, barriers to entry, and current and future medical device supply-chain paradigms. In taking a multi-disciplinary approach, the reader can gain a holistic understanding of the multiple facets related to implementing medical device innovations in developing countries.

• 3D Printed surgical tools
• rapid prototyping
• additive device manufacturing
• fused deposition modeling
• surgery in developing countries
• low cost medical supplies
• additive manufacturing in healthcare

• Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Newark, USA

  Sujata K. Bhatia

• Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Harvard University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Cambridge, USA

  Krish W. Ramadurai

Policies and ethics