ABSTRACT

One of the most promising areas for additive manufacturing (AM) adoption is in the healthcare industry, through its ability to produce customized medical devices with personalized fit, feel and functionality. The shift from conventional manufacturing systems to AM implies several changes throughout the medical product’s life cycle phases, from workforce qualification to the relationship with customers. This study investigates the social impact of adopting AM in the medical devices industry. To this end, two case studies related to medical devices were developed: a prosthesis and an orthosis, by applying a social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. The methodology measures and compares performance and impact of developing, producing, and using the two devices produced by AM, and by conventional processes. The results show how the different stakeholders along the product life cycle stages are affected by the change in the manufacturing technology. Evidence of positive social impacts were found in the ‘Customers’, ‘Local community’ and ‘Society’ stakeholders. A negative social impact was found for the stakeholder ‘Value chain actors’. Furthermore, this study illustrates the suitability of the S-LCA methodology to pinpoint the benefits and negative impacts of AM in each case under study.

抽象的

增材制造（AM）应用最有前途的领域之一是在医疗保健行业，因为它能够生产具有个性化的贴合，触感和功能的定制医疗设备。从传统的制造系统到AM的转变意味着整个医疗产品生命周期阶段的变化，从劳动力资格到与客户的关系。这项研究调查了在医疗设备行业中采用AM的社会影响。为此，通过应用社会生命周期评估（S-LCA）方法，开发了两个与医疗设备相关的案例研究：假体和矫形器。该方法测量并比较开发，生产和使用AM和传统工艺生产的两种设备的性能和影响。结果表明，在产品生命周期阶段，不同的利益相关者如何受到制造技术变化的影响。在“客户”，“当地社区”和“社会”利益相关者中发现了积极的社会影响的证据。发现对利益相关者“价值链参与者”的负面社会影响。此外，本研究说明了S-LCA方法在查明每种情况下查明AM的好处和负面影响的适用性。