Generative manufacturing processes and in particular Rapid Manufacturing (RM) are above all economically relevant for the future in medical technology. Way back in the 1990s experts recognised that complex structures like the base of the skull can only be manufactured generatively. Since then the possibility of direct single piece manufacturing of individual patient specific products has been used intensively. Hearing device shells and dental braces and also implants, prosthetics and orthotics played a pioneering role here.
The further development and improvement of rapid prototyping supported RM applications in medical technology is being worked on all over the world. The market is developing versatilely, innovatively and dynamically in many directions. These trends are being highlighted at the Medical Technology congress as part of Rapid.Tech, the trade fair and users' conference for rapid technology. Doctors and experts in the field of rapid manufacturing will provide information about the status of applications and their potential for the future in lectures and using the accompanying trade exhibition. Fields like surgical planning, the manufacturing of phantoms, implants and prosthetics as well as surgical aids like templates, materials for artificial tissue, cartilage and bones, the development of artificial organs and the interaction between medical image processing and 3D modelling are highlighted.