Among the many types of rehabilitation aids, the manufacture of orthopaedic devices is one of the areas that is currently most closely integrated with the application of additive manufacturing - 3D printing technology - and is still being optimised.

3D printing offers new ideas for the development of patient-specific orthoses that can address the limitations of currently available technologies. However, to date, there has been little research into customised foot orthoses and there is a lack of relevant manufacturing process steps.

Doctors in Dubai have successfully completed a series of surgeries on a young male patient to improve his facial deformities using 3D printed titanium implants. The surgery, which the medical team described as a unique case in the world, completely reconstructed the patient's facial bones, which had been severely damaged by several benign tumours.

11 June 2022 Axle Box Innovations, a developer of co-security technologies, is using additive manufacturing techniques to support the development of 3D printed drones for fire management and protection.