How 3D Printing Can Build New Bone

Yahoo News ^ | 1 Jul 2013 | Tanya Lewis

[mandaladon]

Damaged bones could be fixed with a new technique that involves 3D printing a tissue using living stem cells.

For example, if a child had a jawbone defect, you could take an image of the defect, feed it into a computer and print a replacement to precisely fill the defect using the patient's own cells, said Kevin Shakeshaff, a pharmacist at the University of Nottingham in England.

"The tissues of our body are structured at the level of single cells," Shakeshaff said. "Using 3D printing, we can position cells in precise places."

The technology, which enables scientists to create a custom-fitted body part, is on display at the Royal Society’s annual Summer Science Exhibition this week in London. [7 Cool Uses of 3D Printing in Medicine]

To create the bone replacement, the 3D bioprinter creates a scaffold in the shape of the bone, and coats it with adult human stem cells, which are capable of developing into many different tissue types.

The printer's "ink" consists of a polymer called polylactic acid and a gel-like substance called alginate. The polylactic acid provides the hard, mechanical strength of bone, while the alginate acts as a cushioning material for the cells.

The printed product can be implanted in the body, where the scaffold will degrade and be replaced by new bone within about three months.

"The first advantage is you get something in the exact shape of the defect you're trying to replace," Shakeshaff said. "More subtly, you have the ability to organize where the cells go within the scaffold," he said, adding that it leads to better blood vessel formation and ultimately better bone formation.

[mandaladon]

Ultimately, these techniques may help scientists build fully functional replacements for bones or organs. The 3D printing method may be clinically available within a decade, Shakeshaff said, and the same technique could also be applied to repair more complex tissues, such as the liver or heart....................Truly amazing stuff

[Paladin2]

Just how am I supposed to transfer all of my memories, knowledge and skillz to my new brain?

[null and void]

3-D Printer Ping!

Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.

sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

[ElkGroveDan]

Nope. We are afraid of people creating their own unregulated guns. Chuck Schumer says we are going to have to ban these things. It’s for our own good.

[NonValueAdded]

Life imitating Fifth Element?

[DakotaGator]

Indeed!

[C210N]

Is 3-D printing akin to the generator that harnesses nearby static electricity to generate unlimited power, as depicted by Rand?

[livius]

Truly stunning. Thanks for posting.

[elkfersupper]

Just how am I supposed to transfer all of my memories, knowledge and skillz to my new brain?

I don't even want all that. I just want to go back to 1974 or so with a clean slate except implanted with the knowledge to never get married and buy Microsoft.

I turned Bill Gates down for a loan once. His Albuquerque law firm (which was also mine at the time) fired him as a client because he wanted to pay them with IPO Microsoft stock options instead of cash.

All of us have been kicking ourselves in our respective asses for that for decades.

[Paladin2]

You should have sold him legal work licenses with regular upgrades needed to function properly into the eternal future.

[bigheadfred]

I see what you did there

[uncommonsense]

Just think if this was available for Michael Jackson?

[neverdem]

BTTT!

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

My cousin had his leg amputated because the bone wouldn’t heal. I wonder if this would have done it.