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. 2020 Jul 15;9(7):2238. doi: 10.3390/jcm9072238

Table 1.

A timeline depicting the evolution of the three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies of importance for the medical field.

Year Key Developments
1984 Invention of stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing (Charles Hull)
1986 Invention of the selective laser sintering (SLS) process (Carl Deckard)
1988 Bioprinting by 2D micro-positioning of cells and the first commercial SLA 3D printer (Charles Hull)
1989 Patenting of a fused deposition modelling (Lisa and Scott Crump)
1999 First 3D-printed organ—a bladder—used for transplantation (Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine)
2000 EnvisionTEC launched the first commercial extrusion-based bioprinter, the 3D-Bioplotter
2002 First early stage kidney prototype bioprinted via microextrusion (Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine)
2003 First inkjet bioprinter (modified HP standard inkjet printer)
2005 Founding of RepRap, an open source initiative to build a 3D printer that can print most of its own components
2007 Selective laser sintering printer becomes available, for 3D parts fabrication from fused metal/plastic
2008 First 3D-printed prosthetic leg
2009 First 3D-printed blood vessels (Organovo)
2012 First 3D-printed jaw
2014 First 3D-printed human liver tissue (Organovo), and first desk-top bioprinter (Allevi)
2015 First implanted 3D-printed bioresorbable scaffold for periodontal repair (University of Michigan)
2018 First commercial 3D-printed full human tissue (skin) model Poieskin (Poietis)
2019 First 3D-printed heart that contracts, with blood vessels (University of Tel Aviv) and 3D-printed lung air-sac with surrounding blood vessels (Volumetric)
2020 3D printer for personalized medicine M3DIMAKER (FabRx)

Adapted from GlobalData, “The history of 3D printing”, Carlos Gonzales, ASME, and [3].