The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to soon hold a meeting to discuss the future of regulating medical products made using 3D printing techniques, it has announced.
The cost of 3D printers has come down considerably.
Electronic files which automate the printing process are shareable over the Internet, allowing anyone with the sufficient raw materials to build a part.
The technology behind 3D printing is becoming more advanced, allowing for the manufacture of increasingly durable parts.
While the technology has some alarming components—the manufacture of untraceable weapons, for example—it’s increasingly being looked at as the future source of medical product innovation, and in particular for medical devices like prosthetics.
Promise and Problems
But while 3D printing holds promise for patients, it poses immense challenges for regulators, who must assess how to—or whether to—regulate the burgeoning sector. In a recent FDA Voice blog posting, FDA regulators noted that 3D-printed medical devices have already been used in FDA-cleared clinical interventions, and that it expects more devices to emerge in the future.
Already, FDA’s Office of Science and Engineering laboratories are working to investigate how the technology will affect the future of device manufacturing, and CDRH’s Functional Performance and Device Use Laboratory is developing and adapting computer modeling methods to help determine how small design changes could affect the safety of a device. And at the Laboratory for Solid Mechanics, FDA said it is investigating the materials used in the printing process and how those might affect durability and strength of building materials.
If a 3D printer makes a medical device, will that device be considered adulterated since it was not manufactured under Quality System Regulation-compliant conditions? Would each device be required to be registered with FDA? And would FDA treat shared design files as unauthorized promotion if they failed to make proper note of the device’s benefits and risks? What happens if a device was never cleared or approved by FDA?
The difficulties for FDA are seemingly endless.
[…] You get a full 3 dimensional scan of your complete body geometry. One day there is an accident and unfortunately you lose an ear or some other part of your body. Still, nothing that you really should worry about: Your doctor opens up your unique body geometry back up file, selects the exact specs on the missing body part and prints out a brand new ear which is virtually identical to the one you just lost. This may well be the future of organ and body-part replacement technologies produced by the latest breakthroughs in reconstructive medicine and bio-printing. Is there a 3D Printing Chamber of Commerce? […]