Healthcare 3D Printing Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Healthcare 3D Printing Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The healthcare 3D printing market is expected to register a CAGR of 17.5% during the forecast period, 2022-2027.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across various countries, leading to diverse health system overload worldwide. The high number of patients and the supply chain disruption generated a shortage of medical devices and personal protective equipment. According to a December 2020 published article titled "The role of 3D printing during COVID-19 pandemic: a review", the additive manufacturing community emerged to fight against the lack of medical devices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study states that diverse designs were produced and are currently used in hospitals by patients and health workers. There has been increasing use of 3D-printed devices, such as face shields, masks, valves, and nasopharyngeal swabs, positively impacting the market's growth. Also, as per an April 2021 published article titled, "3D Printing and the Future of Agile, Personalized Healthcare", in the battle against COVID-19, 3D printer companies specializing in a range of services pivoted their technology and designs to support relief efforts, mass-producing medical products essential for providers in a pandemic. In addition, as per a November 2021 published article titled "3D printing in the battle against COVID-19", to overcome the limited number of equipment available, the only solution could be 3D printing, which allows three-dimensional renderings to be realized as physical objects with the use of a printer and has revolutionized prototyping. As per the same source, 3D printing is already well integrated into combating COVID-19 by manufacturing convenient equipment. Thus, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a positive impact on the market's growth.

Further, the significant factors fueling the market's growth are technological advancements leading to enhanced applications; increasing medical applications; and an increasing trend in customized 3D printing. Technological advances are contributing to the market's growth. For instance, in February 2021, Apollo Hospitals and Anatomiz3D Medtech collaborated to design and build hospital 3D printing labs in India that would enable doctors to visualize and print implants for complicated surgical cases.

Also, in March 2022, Zoriox Innovation Labs, consisting of a team of surgeons, dentists, mechanical engineers, biomedical engineers, software engineers, graphic designers, prosthetists, and anatomists, created a 360-degree solution for facial reconstruction using 3D printing technology. Also, many hearing aids are 3D printed with current innovations and technological advancements, making it one of the essential factors to drive this market over the forecast period. This has been the case with dental implants as well. Such factors are likely to drive the market's growth over the forecast period.

However, factors such as a shortage of skilled professionals and stringent regulatory guidelines are expected to impede market growth over the forecast period.

Key Market TrendsMetals and Alloy Segment is Expected to Grow with High CAGR Over the Forecast Period

The metal and alloy sub-segment is expected to hold a significant market share by the materials segment. Biocompatibility is of utmost importance for any 3D-printed device for implants or other medical uses. Any material used must comply with surface chemistry, surface topography, and other parameters that drive biological response to the implanted device.

Titanium alloy and pure titanium are the most preferred and biocompatible metallic materials for biomedical implants. Thus, 3D printing is the perfect technology, and a wide variety of biomaterials, such as metals and alloys, hydrogels, and polymeric biomaterials based on them, have been used and developed as inks for creating 3D structures with a wide range of sizes and stiffness. Titanium alloys like Ti6Al4V improve strength and have corrosion resistance. However, it is essential to consider that the high elastic modulus of titanium causes an elastic mismatch between the bones and the implant. On the whole, titanium is one of the most widely adopted metals for 3D printing for medical applications. As per a November 2020 published article titled "Titanium: the 3D printing metal of the future in the medical sector?", Sandvik’s additive manufacturing and metal powder specialists are preparing for the future of medical implants by working on the potential of 3D printed titanium devices for the medical industry at their cutting-edge titanium powder plants in Sandviken, Sweden.

Furthermore, with technological advancements, 3D printing of titanium is expected to revolutionize medical device manufacturers over the forecast period. Also, increasing research and development are contributing to the segment's growth. For instance, in March 2021, I-Form, the Science Foundation Ireland research center for advanced manufacturing, partnered with Fort Wayne Metals to develop 3D-printed wires for next-gen medical devices. Due to the abovementioned factors, the segment is expected to experience a boost over the forecast period.

North America Dominates the Market and Expected to do Same in the Forecast Period

Some of the factors driving the market growth in the North American region are increasing trends and developments in customized 3D printing and technological advancements, leading to enhanced applications. A research study titled "COVID-19 and role of 3D printing in medicine" was published in April 2020 in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. It stated that 3D printed ventilator splitters and adjustable flow control valves have been adapted, such as the no2covid-ONE valve, a single ventilator for use with multiple patients who have different oxygen requirements. Thus, new creative solutions for increasingly complex challenges from COVID-19 are expected to boost the market's growth.

Moreover, the rising demand for customized implants during surgical procedures and growing R&D investments are also boosting the 3D printing market's growth. For instance, in July 2022, the United States, Ohio State University, in collaboration with Nexxt Spine, LLC, initiated a clinical trial to evaluate and compare radiographic and clinical outcomes in patients who are to undergo combined interbody/posterolateral lumbar fusion procedures, supplemented with pedicle screw instrumentation, using the Nexxt Spine Nexxt MatrixxTM 3D-printed titanium cage or the HonourTM poly-ether-ether-ketone cage.

Furthermore, increasing strategic initiatives are also contributing to the market's growth. For instance, in March 2022, 3D LifePrints reported launching point-of-care medical 3D printing services in the United States.

Thus, the abovementioned factors are expected to drive market growth in the North American region during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The healthcare 3D printing market is consolidated, competitive, and consists of a few significant players. The major players in the market have implemented specific strategies, like product launches, to sustain market competition. With the rising demand driven by the increasing medical applications, manufacturers are investing more in R&D, which may cause the market in the forecast period. Some of the market's major players are Stratasys Ltd, Renishaw PLC, 3D Systems Inc., Nanoscribe GmbH & Co. KG, and Nano3D Biosciences Inc., among others.

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