Rapid prototyping is of great use in the field of medicine for specialized surgeries that require unique planning and equipment, prosthetics and for the development of new and improved surgical procedures.

Diverse applications of rapid prototyping have been emerging throughout the last decade. It is regarded as one of the most promising techniques to be associated with medical imaging. The process chain from imaging to 3D prototype modelling is a multidisciplinary field involving knowledge ranging from acquisition of imaging data, image post-processing and manufacturing of the prototype models by various techniques.

• Medical applications of 3D objects
• Image acquisition
• Surgical planning
• Medical research
• Implant and tissue designing