Bibliometric analysis of additive manufacturing in cranial and craniofacial implant research

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers solutions to complex surgical challenges by enabling the production of medical devices with highly sophisticated and customized designs. As a result, it has significantly advanced the field of implant customization for cranial and craniofacial reconstruction. However, comprehensive insights into the research trends in this area remain limited. This study aims to provide a bibliometric analysis of literature related to AM in cranial and craniofacial implant applications from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection. A highly refined search strategy was employed by utilizing an advanced query with specific keywords such as 'additive manufacturing,' 'cranial implants,' '3D printing,' and 'customized'. This search resulted in a total of 408 publications, which were then narrowed down to 331 articles by selection of articles as the publication type. A visualization tool named VOSviewer was employed to analyze trends in publication volume, author collaboration, journal impact, and keyword co-occurrence. The analysis revealed an increasing trend in research publications with a focus on patient-specific implants, 3D bioprinting technologies, and virtual surgical planning. Additionally, the collaborations between institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia are driving the field forward. Despite significant progress since 2000s, there are still challenges related to material optimization, regulatory concerns, and clinical integration.