3D Printing of Polyurethanes for Biomedical Applications

The use of three-dimensional printing (3DP) for rapid prototyping and manufacturing has brought new insights for component production following customized and complex geometrical designs. Due to its excellent mechanical strength, flexibility and potential biocompatibility, polyurethane (PU) has been developed for fabricating convoluted biomedical devices by 3DP. Such a manufacturing technic offers advantages including high fidelity, cost reduction and dynamic customization. For the past decades, numerous studies have explored 3DP of PUs in biomedical research. Notably, most of the work reported utilized an extrusion-based system. In this chapter, we will discuss the properties of 3D printed PUs, as well as their applications in biomedical research. 3DP systems, such as inkjet-based, extrusion-based and stereolithography are introduced and compared. Lastly, we will explore the future applications.