Biomedical Manufacturing: A Review of the Emerging Research and Applications

Biomedical manufacturing, which has seen rapid growth over the past decade, is an emerging research area for the manufacturing community. This growth trajectory is exemplified and coupled with a broadening scope of applications with biomedical manufacturing technology, including advancements in the safety, quality, cost, efficiency, and speed of healthcare service and research. The goal of this topical review is to offer a comprehensive survey of the current state-of-the-art in biomedical manufacturing and to summarize existing opportunities and challenges as a basis to guide future research activities in this emerging area. This article categorizes the key manufacturing process types that are currently being leveraged for the biomedical field of use, including machining, joining, additive manufacturing, and micro-/multi-scale manufacturing. For each of these manufacturing processes, notable applications are cited and discussed to provide insights and perspectives into how manufacturing processes can play an integral role in creating new and more sophisticated healthcare services and products.