Silicon nitride possesses a variety of excellent properties that can be specifically designed and manufactured for different medical applications. On the one hand, silicon nitride is known to have good mechanical properties, such as high strength and fracture toughness. On the other hand, the uniqueness of the osteogenic/antibacterial dualism of silicon nitride makes it a favorable bioceramic for implants. The surface of silicon nitride can simultaneously inhibit the proliferation of bacteria while supporting the physiological activities of eukaryotic cells and promoting the healing of bone tissue. There are hardly any biomaterials that possess all these properties concurrently. Although silicon nitride has been intensively studied as a biomedical material for years, there is a paucity of comprehensive data on its properties and medical applications. To provide a comprehensive understanding of this potential cornerstone material of the medical field, this review presents scientific and technical data on silicon nitride, including its mechanical properties, osteogenic behavior, and antibacterial capabilities. In addition, this paper highlights the current and potential medical use of silicon nitride and explains the bottlenecks that need to be addressed, as well as possible solutions.

Ceramics are highly chemically, thermally, and mechanically resistant. These remarkable propertiers make them useful across multiple industries; but also, difficult to mold into complex shapes. A possibility to make convoluted ceramic parts is to use preceramic polymers (PCPs) in liquid form. The PCP resin is first solidified in a desired geometry and then transformed into ceramic compounds through a pyrolysis step that preserves the shape. Light‐based additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising route to achieve solidification of the PCP resin. Different approaches, such as stereolithography, have already been proposed but they all rely on a layer‐by‐layer printing process which limits printing speed and object geometry. Herein, the fabrication of complex 3D centimeter‐scale ceramic parts by using tomographic volumetric printing is presented, which is fast and offers a high‐resolution and geometrical design freedom. First, a photosensitive polysiloxane preceramic resin that is solidified by projecting light patterns from multiple angles is formulated. Then, the obtained 3D printed parts are converted into ceramics by pyrolysis. The strength of this approach is demonstrated through the fabrication of smooth, dense microcomponents exhibiting overhangs and hollow geometries without the need of supporting structures. Their resistance to thermal stress and harsh chemical treatments is characterized.