Healthcare is the future for 3D printing - Gartner

Analyst claims 3D printing tech is almost mainstream in healthcare, despite the trend in general still emerging

Tech firms looking to cash in on 3D printing (3DP) ought to focus on the healthcare market, according to Gartner, which claims the technology is almost mainstream in the space.

3DP on the whole is still considered an emerging trend – on Gartner's Hype Cycle released last week, it was placed at the top of the "peak of inflated expectations" – meaning it has yet to become mainstream.

But the healthcare space is an exception, the analyst said, claiming that some use cases are extremely common.

"In the healthcare industry, 3DP is already in mainstream use to produce medical items that need to be tailored to individuals, such as hearing aids and dental devices," said Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner.

"All the major hearing aid manufacturers now offer devices that are personalised to the shape of the customer's ear. This is evidence that using 3DP for mass customisation of consumer goods is now viable, especially given that the transition from traditional manufacturing in this market took less than two years. Routine use of 3DP for dental implants is also not far from this level of market maturity."

In the future, knee and hip replacements will be another lucrative market for 3DP suppliers.

"Some medical 3DP technologies are further from mainstream use, but are equally, if not more, exciting," the analyst said. "Hip and knee replacements, for example, are a $15bn (£9.5bn) industry and are one of the most common surgical procedures.

"Early trials using personalised 3D-printed replacements indicate improved healing times and function of the implant as well as an improved success rate in more complex operations. Given the size of the market, Gartner predicts that 3D-printed hip and knee replacements, as well as other common internal and external medical devices, will be in mainstream use within two to five years."