(image source: los angeles times / oxforduniversity) by michelle schuelke oxford university revealed a 3d printer thatprints out a new material composed of thousands of connected water droplets. it’s a devicethat could eventually engineer living tissue samples.
how can 3d printing help humans, “these aren’t just any droplets. the tinydroplets have a diameter half the size of a human hair and they are made of water surroundedby lipids, the fatty molecules that form an outer barriers or a membrane of a cell.â€â (viaâ webpronews) the los angeles times says the printing of“faux-tissue could be used to graft onto
organs to replace damaged parts, employedas scaffolding on which to grow more cells, or could be inserted into the body to releasemedication at given times, in certain spots, with specific triggers.†grist points out...“those teeny balls thenget connected in groups of up to 35,000, forming little masses that apparently have a lot incommon with soft tissues. the idea is that these tissue-like masses would be cheaperto create than tissue-like masses made out of living cells.†the liquid droplets are about five times largerthan human cells. but, oxford isn’t the only institution to start developing thiskind of 3d printer. â researchers in germany
and iowa are working on similar developments. “in germany researchers develop a printerthat uses a lasers to build microstructure 100 times faster.â€â (via wpix) “the future of biomedical engineering, withthis printer that he built. it sounds crazy
when i first heard of this organ printing.using a printer to make an organ.â€â (via wmaz) but don’t get too excited about this synthetictissue just yet. researchers say the technology is five years off from human use, at best.â
