ArticleOrthopedic reviews2026
Mapping the Global Research Landscape of 3D Printing in Orthopedics.
Article in Orthopedic reviews, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has expanded from prototyping and anatomic modeling to patient-specific guides, implants, and tissue-engineering applications across orthopedic subspecialties. Objective: To characterize the global publication landscape of 3D printing in orthopedics, including geographic and institutional contributions, collaboration patterns, publication growth, and evolving research themes. Methods: Web of Science Core Collection was searched on June 16, 2026 using terms for 3D printing/additive manufacturing combined with orthopedic terms. Articles and reviews were included. Bibliographic records were analyzed descriptively, and VOSviewer was used for author co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence mapping. Association-strength normalization was used for network visualization; the keyword overlay map applied a minimum occurrence threshold of 42. Results: The search identified 3,070 publications spanning 1965-2026. China contributed 968 publications (31.6%) and the United States 531 (17.3%). Shanghai Jiao Tong University was the most productive institution with 88 publications, followed by Peking University (66) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (65). Publication output accelerated markedly after 2013-2014; 91.7% of records were published during 2017-2026, although 2026 data were incomplete. In the author network, Changchun Zhou had the highest total link strength (116), followed by Yujiang Fan (94) and Lei Wang (68). The most frequent keywords were "3d printing" (1,010 occurrences), "additive manufacturing" (738), and "mechanical-properties" (558). Conclusion: Orthopedic 3D-printing research has expanded rapidly and is geographically concentrated, with strong representation from Chinese institutions. The literature connects orthopedic surgery with biomaterials, engineering, and patient-specific technologies. Future work should emphasize reproducible bibliometric methods and clinical studies addressing durability, effectiveness, cost, and implementation of 3D-printed orthopedic technologies.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.