Transforming surgical planning and procedures through the synergistic use of additive manufacturing, advanced materials and artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities

Shivi Tripathi^{1

2}, Aftab Alam Ansari^{1

2

3}, Manisha Singh⁴, Madhusmita Dash^{2

5

6}, Prasoon Kumar^{6

7}, Harpreet Singh⁸, Biranchi Panda⁹, Syam Nukavarapu¹⁰, Gulden Camci-Unal¹¹, Bingbing Li^{12

13

14}, Prashant Kumar Jain³, Rengaswamy Jayaganthan¹⁵, Hassan Mehboob¹⁶, Harri Junaedi¹⁶, Himansu Sekhar Nanda^{1

2

13}, Guoping Chen¹⁷, Subhas C Kundu¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Biomaterials and Biomanufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India. himansu@iiitdmj.ac.in.
² International Centre for Sustainable and Net Zero Technologies, PDPM-Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India.
³ Fused Filament Fabrication Lab, PDPM-Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India.
⁴ Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
⁵ School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Argul, Khordha, Odisha 752050, India.
⁶ Iota Design & Innovations Lab Private Limited, 111, FTBI, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha 769008, India. kumarprasoon@nitrkl.ac.in.
⁷ Biodesign and Medical Device Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha 769008, India.
⁸ Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, GT Road Bypass, Jalandhar, Punjab 144011, India.
⁹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India.
¹⁰ Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Connecticut, 260 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3247, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
¹¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854-2827, USA.
¹² Laboratory for Sustainable and Additive Manufacturing, Manufacturing Systems Engineering, California State University, Northridge, CA 91324, USA.
¹³ Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, 21100 Erwin St Los Angeles, CA 91367, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1597, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India.
¹⁶ Department of Engineering and Management, College of Engineering, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 12435, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁷ Research Center for Macromolecules and Biomaterials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
¹⁸ 3Bs Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradability and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Ave Park, Barco 4805-694, Guimaraes, Portugal.

PMID: 40586271
DOI: 10.1039/d5mh00501a

Review

Transforming surgical planning and procedures through the synergistic use of additive manufacturing, advanced materials and artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities

Shivi Tripathi et al. Mater Horiz. 2025.

. 2025 Sep 29;12(19):7814-7864.

doi: 10.1039/d5mh00501a.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Biomaterials and Biomanufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India. himansu@iiitdmj.ac.in.
² International Centre for Sustainable and Net Zero Technologies, PDPM-Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India.
³ Fused Filament Fabrication Lab, PDPM-Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh 482005, India.
⁴ Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
⁵ School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Argul, Khordha, Odisha 752050, India.
⁶ Iota Design & Innovations Lab Private Limited, 111, FTBI, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha 769008, India. kumarprasoon@nitrkl.ac.in.
⁷ Biodesign and Medical Device Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha 769008, India.
⁸ Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, GT Road Bypass, Jalandhar, Punjab 144011, India.
⁹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India.
¹⁰ Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Connecticut, 260 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3247, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
¹¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854-2827, USA.
¹² Laboratory for Sustainable and Additive Manufacturing, Manufacturing Systems Engineering, California State University, Northridge, CA 91324, USA.
¹³ Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, 21100 Erwin St Los Angeles, CA 91367, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1597, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India.
¹⁶ Department of Engineering and Management, College of Engineering, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 12435, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁷ Research Center for Macromolecules and Biomaterials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
¹⁸ 3Bs Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradability and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Ave Park, Barco 4805-694, Guimaraes, Portugal.

PMID: 40586271
DOI: 10.1039/d5mh00501a

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a powerful approach in healthcare to augment the functionalities of patient-specific medical products and surgical tools. One such area of the healthcare industry is surgical planning and procedures, where the benefits of AM can revolutionize the industry. AM technologies, commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, can change the conventional surgical methodology from the "open-detect-operate-close" mode to the "detect-open-operate-close" mode. However, the use of 3D printing in surgical planning has been hampered by the limited availability of literature reports thoroughly examining the advantages and drawbacks of this technology in clinical settings. Hence, this review explores the widespread use of additive manufacturing, multi-materials, metamaterials, 4D printing, and artificial intelligence in surgical planning for complex surgical procedures of the spine and in orthopedics, dentistry, cardiology, gynecology, and neurology. This review focuses on meticulously adjusting the lattice structure of metamaterials during 3D printing to achieve specific mechanical properties. It further delves into 4D printing to achieve dynamic capabilities in 3D printed models for better integration with the host tissue. Furthermore, it highlights the key aspects of combining AM with artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) models in healthcare to automate 3D model production and thereby reduce human intervention. This comprehensive review offers bioengineers, clinical scientists, and clinicians a platform to explore AM and its potential for addressing pre- and post-surgical operation challenges, providing valuable insights for biomedical engineering and healthcare advancements.

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Transforming surgical planning and procedures through the synergistic use of additive manufacturing, advanced materials and artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities

Affiliations

Transforming surgical planning and procedures through the synergistic use of additive manufacturing, advanced materials and artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical