It depends on the type of 3D printer.  If you have the type that just uses solid plastics in spool/strand format then the only standard material is PLA.  If you can use liquids, there are a number of urethanes that can be used or adapted to the system.  However, I have not seen anything off the shelf.  You may have to make your own.  I will ask around and post again.

It depends upon the particular 3DP technique like SLA; SLM or FDM etc. tell me the technique, than might be easy top tell you.

I would like to develop materials for low-cost 3D printing. One of the producer describe technique layer plastic deposition but without details.

I agree with other comments that it really depends on your printer of choice. 

However, if you are looking into FFF/FDM printer (fused filament printing), there are already a few companies currently selling filaments that might suit your application:

Both Tritan filament by Taulman3d (http://taulman3d.com/tritan-spec.html) and XT-copolyester filament by Colorfabb (http://colorfabb.com/xt-copolyester) have FDA food contact approval or compliance. 

Taulman3d has nylon680 filament in his pipeline which is designed to meet FDA medical grade polymer requirement (ISO 10993). If you are interested you can contact him to check on its progress. 

Hope that helps.

Ok, Our centre has a speciality  working in 3DP, aslo the one with layer based manufacturing.Are you just interested to know about materials or to buy a machine. T

I believe you are looking for a hobby type 3D printer.  Personally for this type of printer, I like the SolidDoodle or Makerbot.  The SolidDoodle is cheaper, but the Makerbot a bit better in quality.  However, you are limited to PLA.  For food contact applications a new filament would be PETT (http://www.3dprima.com/en/filaments-for-3d-printers/nylon-175mm/taulman-t-glase-175mm-filament.html). 

A reasonably priced hobby SLA using liquids is Formlabs, (http://formlabs.com/en/).  I believe they use liquid acrylic (free radical) or liquid epoxy (cationic) uv cured materials.  Some of these materials may be approved for medical applications or I know that there are many dental adhesives and filling materials that use these two material technologies.  If you do go this route, you will probably have to do some material development on your own.

I hope this helps!! 

Thanks for the suggestions. I would like to focus on new materials which, as you mentioned first I can use on - "hobby printer", for implants. Do you have some suggestions of the materials which exhibit good biocompatibility?

I would be grateful for the information about some teams or labs which make this kind of materials.

The real question for medical modeling is what do you want to do with it?  If you are looking for presurgical models, one of the powder binding machines with color is an excellent choice since it is realatively inexpensive, and you can color different anatomical structures - our neruosurgeons really like these models since we can segment out vessels and tumors.

If you want to do "working models" then you need a material that is resistant to fluids, and you can control the placement of the supports, since you may occlude a vessel if you are looking to run fluids through a "kidney", heart, etc....

If you are looking to build models that show structures within the bone (such as a lingual nerver, impacted teeth) SLA can be manipulated to color structurs, but one of the materials jetting technologies that use two materials works well when you use the white opaque materials to highlite the structure and a clear model - but they can be rather expensive to produce.

There is an industry standard of a Class VI ratiing (not an FDA rating) that identifies materials that have been tested that don't appear to cause any irritation to human tissue and are recommended for use in surgical guides and any other structures that will in contact iwth human skin. - both 3Dsystems and Stratysys have these materials.

In addition to Class VI materials for short term contact, there are implants being printed in specialized materials. Obviously these are subject to more stringent regulation. PEEK implants are made by SLS (selective laser sintering) and have been used for cranial implants.  Titanium implants have been made by EBM (electron beam melting).

Tom Fripp has reported printing silicone for printing soft tissue prostheses, but this has not been commercialized yet.

Perhaps the most exciting area is bioprinting in which cells are deposited into resorbable matrices for guided tissue regeneration and eventually for organ replacement. 

Developing materials for implants is a serious and not easy task. Please specify, are we talking about materials which are in direct and long-term contact with living cells? A specification of the kind of your implants would also be helpfull ie. bones or soft tissue.

In my lab we are developing a process chain for additive manufactured implants as well as biocompatible and biodegreadeable materials for soft tissue implants. For several reasons, we use SLS-Machines as additive technology.

However i can not advice the use of PLA as it degrades to acid (Poly-Lactide-Acid) that causes the cells to degenerate or die. Also all other materials on the market are explicitly not for implantation. Except and explicitly titanium and medical grade stainles steel (1.4xxx) as Crispin mentioned. Both are biocompatible, not biodegradeable though. Some others were suggested here, but please read the material data sheets and mind the postprocessing materials such as binders or also the cleaning materials! Usually the whole process is anything but appropriate.

You also need a material which meets the medical FDA standards in its production process. This usually causes the enormous pricing. Your machine needs to be sterile, as well as the material itself. Both need to be able to be sterilised.

For more detailed info, i can recomment a few papers if you want.

According to main question, one more think. Is it possible to use metallic materials (titanium or magnesium, etc.) directly for some 3D printing?

For the most part, the gypsum-type materials from the powder binding are used in Medical applications due to the color ability.  However, Class VI SLA and Materials jetting are used for use for models to be taken to the OR, and surgical guides.

Presently Ti and a PEK technique is presently used for implantation.

I was not aware that the parts would be used as implants.  There are many medical applications outside implants.  I am by no means an expert in this area, however isn't LLDPE used as an implant material?  Also, I believe that acrylates are used as adhesives in the body.

Most 3D printed metal parts are made by powder-based processes such as SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) or EBM (Electron Beam Melting).  Materials for medical use have included various titanium alloys, cobalt-chrome (cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy), Various implants have been made including cranial plates, knees, hips and maxillofacial prostheses. Companies making these sorts of machines include EOS, Arcam, ExOne and 3D Systems. Conformis makes patient-specific knee replacements from cobalt-chrome.

There have been some experiments with non-powder based systems including both MIG and TIG welders, but as far as I know none of these are commercial yet. I suspect that without the support and uniform cooling provided the powder bed, distortion will be a problem but it would be great to hear from people who have more experience with these approaches.

It depends in what medical purpose. I did prosthesis for hand in Passive state. Its combination of Reverse engineering and Additive Manufacturing (AM). Used GOM ATOS III scanner which is High Quality 3D scanner in the Market. In the point of building the part for prosthesis mold, printed with Z-Coporation 310. For software like Mimics used for CT scanned files  are in 2D, which can be generated in 3D file. Then by implementing in Magics and 3-Matics software to create air tight model means in triangulation format (.STL) file. Go to print on SLM or EBM or Z-Cor or FDM or SLM.... Selecting the 3D printer depends on the cases of medical need, but Reverse Eng. is easy for medical purpose. In this video shows all the software and process printing, and Dr. Tom Fripp is pioneer in the field.

Check this link: http://3dprinterplans.info/fripp-design-launching-full-colour-silicone-3d-printer-tech-in-the-near-future/  

Yet they are showing the RE behind it is part of the process, in medical design is complicated to generate in CAD model, and its time consuming process. 

The use of Haptic device than mouse. 

An update to the materials development for medical applications. A firm in Germany which I am affiliated to now produces PEEK filament for FDM 3D printing applications (http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150322-revolutionary-peek-filament-now-compatible-with-fdm-3d-printers.html). This is a critical step forward for the SMEs. Caution though; the filament and printed parts still need to be validated before application for prolonged human contact. PEEK is FDA approved for food contact purposes. Kindly get in touch with me if you are interested in cooperating with this firm. Cheers! Brando

Dear Saman Naghieh,

A material FDA approved for food contact should not be used for medical applications like in vivo and vitro tests. PEEK though is already being used as implant material. The effort being exercised by the firm mentioned in my earlier post gives the medical world access to a tool that could potentially meet some of its practical requirements should medical grade materials like PEEK be processed using fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing technology. INDMATEC (www.indmatec.com) now has a new FDM printer in the market conditioned for printing high performance polymeric materials like PEEK. They are working on having medical grade materials and FDM printer developed and introduced into the market. Best regards

The PEEK material for FDM printer is very expensive, needs an alternative material

For those with the capacity to print liquids/gels, we are developing a nanofiber reinforced alginate gel. Cells are easily seeded within the ink and the final gel shape can be fixed with a dilute calcium chloride rinse. The nanofibers contribute to increases in the strength of the printed scaffold and the proliferation of cells within. I'd be happy to provide more info if anyone is interested.

Ian Rogers Can you please provide further details and also what kind of printer can be used for this purpose.

Hello, me and some friends are planning in to develop a Y-connector for respiratory circuit printed in PLA, by FMM 3D printing process.

This part is usually injected in polycarbonate.

Do anyone have an idea if is it possible? Since the PLA is biocompatible, can it be used?

Probably there will be only air and moisture true this connectors.