Traditionally, the field of three dimensional printing has dealt with inanimate and overall, static material. A new branch in the 3-D printing industry is quickly gain steam, a branch known as ‘bioprinting’, or the construction of a biological structure by computer-aided, automatic, layer by layer deposition, transfer and patterning of small amounts of biological material. This technique is still very much in its infant stages but is already being applied to issues in the world today.
One example is the work being done at Cornell. Cornell bioengineers and physicians have created an artificial ear that looks and acts like a natural ear. Gels made up of biological materials were injected into a mold, and over the course of three months, went through normal functional and developed cartilage to replace the structural support of the mold. The technology could theoretical be applied to many other parts of the body, replacing the need for organ donors and providing as almost immediate response to a multitude of medical problems.
Another popular topic in the bioprinting field is the first ever print of edible substances. There are many directions that 3-D printing could take in the food industry, and already there have been several successful prints of desserts.
This is also being applied to producing a more nutrient dense substance. Beef has been printed successfully into a hamburger patty. A shape for the tissue is laid out and the ‘bioink’ is laid in, which then forms living tissue ready for consumption after being properly prepared. The implications of the technology on a growing hunger problem around the world are very interesting and appealing but the technology has more progress to make before that can be considered as one burger currently has a price tag of $300,000.
Recent Comments