Computer-Aided Biomanufacturing

Several additive manufacturing techniques, such as inkjet printing, laser direct writing, and two photon polymerization, have been used for fabrication of medical devices in recent years. In these techniques, selective joining of material in a layer-by-layer manner is used to create three-dimensional devices; processing of the structure is typically directed by a computer-aided design model. Recent efforts involving the use of additive manufacturing techniques to create structures with small-scale features for biological applications will be considered. For example, fabrication of artificial tissues and drug delivery devices out of photosensitive materials using two photon polymerization will be described. The advantages and disadvantages of various additive manufacturing techniques will also be discussed.