As a technology, additive manufacturing has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in the 1980’s. However, advancements in computer aided design (CAD), the selection of available materials and more complex manufacturing requirements have allowed its value to extend beyond being a research tool into one that is capable of providing a financially viable and production feasible manufacturing solution.
Healthcare product innovation is currently a resource not being used to its full capacity within the healthcare sector in the UK [1]. Professionals within this sector often have ideas for technical innovation but the development is often thwarted due to a lack of engineering knowledge. In addition to this, the opportunities to develop these ideas are often limited through lack of time and resources.
It is the aim of this dissertation to show how healthcare professionals can advance their product ideas by utilising research facilities and additive manufacturing technology to produce proof-of-concept models for evaluation purposes.
It is integral to the development of an innovative product to be able to explain the value of an idea to external stakeholders. One method by which to achieve this is to produce concept designs and/or prototypes. Additive manufacturing technology is ideally suited to this because it can allow the rapid development of a concept which can then be used to produce a 3D model to aid the healthcare professional in relating their idea(s) to others.
The dissertation uses four case studies to show how the utilisation of additive manufacturing technology and design for additive manufacturing principles can be used to advance the early-stage development of new healthcare devices.