According to market research, 3D printing technology has been applied in the subsegments of rehabilitation AIDS such as orthotics and prosthetics, personal mobility AIDS, communication and information AIDS, and personal medical AIDS. Next, it combs some application cases in the field of orthotics and prosthetics, which are relatively rich in 3D printing applications.

The real value of 3D printing for rehabilitation devices such as orthotic ines, bionic hands, fracture splints, and hearing AIDS is not only to achieve accurate customization, but also to replace manual production with accurate and efficient digital manufacturing technology and shorten the production cycle.

Let's take the hearing aid housing industry, which has achieved 3D printing mass customized production, as an example. In the traditional way, the technician needs to make an injection mold from a model of the patient's ear canal. The plastic product is then produced by ultraviolet light. The final shape of the hearing aid is obtained by drilling sound holes and manual processing of the plastic product. If something goes wrong in this process, the model needs to be remade.

The process of using a 3D printer to make a hearing aid begins with the design of a silicone mold or impression of the patient's ear canal, which is completed by a three-dimensional scanner. CAD software is then used to convert the scan data into a design file that can be read by the 3D printer. Designers can use software to modify 3D images and create final product shapes. EnvisionTec printers can print 65 hearing aid cases or 47 hearing aid models in 60 to 90 minutes.