T3D, a spin-off from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST, unveiled their smartphone-powered 3D Printer at Inside 3D Printing Shanghai 2015. The Kickstarter campaign was set up since 2012 and it finally managed to raise $160,093 this September for their resin-based 3D Printing. The smartphone 3D printer can cure a 100 micron layer in 15 seconds; it features Bluetooth connectivity and uses a patented UV-curable resin.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan has developed bone material specially designed for ethnic Chinese people using 3D printing to combine metal and ceramic composite materials with bionic bone structures, and is expected to come in 2018. The ITRI-developed 3D printed bone material is lightweight, hydrophilic, and fuses easily with existing bone. It’s porous and hollow and can be used to regenerate natural bone, plus it can be easily customized for personalized treatment.

A collaborative team of researchers from the National Taiwan University Hospital, the China Medical University Hospital, and Asia University have created a new bone substitute- Calcium Silicate Bone Scaffold that have both osteoconductive and osetoinductive potential to be used for bone grafts/repair required in people suffering from bone defects and disorders around the globe. The team explored the effects of various loading methods on novel grafting material bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), which was loaded with a mesoporous calcium silicate (MesoCS) scaffold created with FDM 3D printing on a 3D bioprinter from GeSiM.

A team of researchers from China and Taiwan used Aerosol Jet 3D printing to develop a neuronal interface for implants with prolonged anti-inflammatory ability, structural and mechanical properties that mimicked brain tissue, and a sustained nonfouling property in order to inhibit tissue encapsulation. The team developed a new type of anti-inflammatory nanogel, based on the amphiphilic polydimethylsiloxane-modified N, O-carboxylic chitosan (PMSC) incorporated with oligo-proanthocyanidin (OPC), called OPMSC which was directly fabricated onto a membrane using aerosol jet printing technology.

Researchers from Taiwan worked on improved methods of accommodating bone defects after failed implants must be removed using 3D Printing. Bio-Active Dental implant, which were manufactured with laser-sintered additive 3D printing technique, were used in animal experiments where one side of distal femurs was randomly selected for the commercially pure titanium NobelActive implant (control group) and the other side with Bio-Active Ti₆Al₄V porous dental implant (ITRI group). After Bio-printing with EOSINT M 280 system, the researchers concluded that by enlarging pore width at the nanoscale, they can to increase bioactivity features as well as accelerate osseogenesis during Dental Surgeries.

Researchers from Taiwan performed an ANOVA study to determine the effectiveness of 3D Printing in helping people with Flat Foot. 18 Foot Orthoses (FO) samples were 3D Printed at orientations of 0°, 45°, and 90°, and subjected to human motion analysis, with 12 flatfooted individuals. 3D scans of the participants’ feet were exported as an STL file, which was edited with Autodesk Meshmixer software and 3D Printed out of PLA filament on an Infinity X1 FDM 3D printer. The build parameters of the FOs were defined using Ultimaker Cura 3.3 software. The results indicated that the 45° build orientation produced the strongest FOs. In addition, the maximum ankle evertor and external rotator moments under the Shoe+FO condition were significantly reduced by 35% and 16%, respectively, but the maximum ankle plantar flexor moments increased by 3%, compared with the Shoe condition.