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Special Issue on Biomanufacturing
Naohiko Sugita and Mamoru Mitsuishi
Published:January 5, 2014
The development of medical devices and systems is essential for improving quality of life and reducing global healthcare costs. Machine tools are increasingly used in the medical, automotive, airplane, and electronics fields thanks to advances in manufacturing technology. The processing of artificial implants and biomaterials, for example, and parts of medical devices such as endoscopes are manufactured with multiaxis machine tools. This demand is expected to increase as society ages. Equipment used in diagnostics and surgery has also developed rapidly. Despite the use of advanced diagnostics such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), however, surgery still largely depends on the skill and sense of the surgeon. Advanced manufacturing technologies are thus needed to achieve these desired attributes. Biomanufacturing requires expertise in basic manufacturing processes such as cutting, electrophysical and chemical processes, forming, and abrasive processes. These, in turn, must be integrated into machine design, surface modification, precision engineering, and metrology within the overarching frameworks of design, life cycle engineering and assembly, production systems, and organization. Biomanufacturing is thus defined as the application of design and manufacturing technologies for reducing cost while advancing safety, quality, efficiency and speed in healthcare services and biomedical sciences. Biomanufacturing provides an excellent platform for converging innovations in precision engineering, nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive sciences. This special issue presents the latest in research advances, practical and theoretical applications, and case studies on biomanufacturing. The papers featured in this issue provide aid in the development of next-generation manufacturing technologies. We thank the authors for their invaluable contributions and the reviewers for their ever- useful advice. We know you will find this special issue both fascinating and worthwhile.
Cite this article as:N. Sugita and M. Mitsuishi, “Special Issue on Biomanufacturing,” Int. J. Automation Technol., Vol.8 No.1, p. 73, 2014.Data files: