10 3D printing technologies bringing you the future of medicine
By Colin Druce-McFadden, Dvice, 29 April 2013.
By Colin Druce-McFadden, Dvice, 29 April 2013.
We love our 3D printing here at DVICE, because printing whatever objects you want whenever you want is just awesome. We loved 3D printing when it only existed in awesome sci-fi films, like The Fifth Element. We loved it when it was only a DIY kit. And we really loved it when it went mainstream.
3D printing has become a part of everything from the national gun debate to movie props and cars. 3D printing is becoming so ubiquitous that no matter what it is that you desire, you can print it for yourself. People are even going so far as to compare 3D printing favourably with the replicators of Star Trek fame. And while that might be going a bit far, 3D printing has been leaping forward in a number of astonishing ways. Yes, moon bases and bacon are pretty awesome, but they aren't what we're talking about. The real marvels of 3D printing have been in an area less expected; that is, unless you clicked through that Fifth Element link a couple paragraphs ago. We're talking medicine, and here are 10 awesome medical applications of 3D printing.
1. Skull Transplants
This story, which broke a couple weeks ago, is still mind-blowing. On March 4th, a patient received a successful transplant of 75 percent of his skull cap. Thanks to 3D printing the patient - who remains unidentified - received a transplant shaped precisely the same as his own skull. The polymer used also mimics the density and stiffness of real bone while encouraging cell growth.
2. Ear Transplants
Like a skull, the human ear is an organ that varies in shape from patient to patient, which is something that has caused difficulty and delays for surgeons for quite some time. The process of replacing an ear is also much different than that of a skull cap. Individually-printed ear moulds are combined with injectable gels comprised of collagen and living cells. Over a three month period the ears then replace the collagen with cartilage. The result is an ear that is practically identical to a traditional one.
Via Futurity
3. Kidneys
Back in 2011, surgeon Anthony Atala gave a TED talk outlining how we might one day be able to print kidneys and other internal organs to match individual patients. He outlined the process of taking X Ray scan data and developing a 3D representation of a particular patient's kidney and then uploading that data to a printer. During the talk, he showed off the very printer capable of printing organs. Each specially-designed kidney takes about seven hours to print and is then ready for transplant. Atala is still hard at work, and is currently developing more than 30 different printable organs and tissues.
Via TED
4. Arteries
Last year, Professor Sangeeta Bhatia of MIT lead a team that successfully printed a basic artery network with a Rep Rap 3D printer. Flexible, hollow structures like veins aren't easy to create in a one step process using 3D printing, so Professor Bhatia and her team devised a simple solution: create a solid structure whose centre layer can be easily dissolved away. For that dissolvable layer they used a mixture of sucrose, glucose and dextran. The outer layer is comprised of tissues and sturdier gel, a formula capable of receiving oxygen and nutrients like traditional arteries. Next up for prof. Bhatia's team: finding out how to properly transplant their artery networks into patients.
5. Biobots
Farther off the beaten track, biobots appear to be more "mad scientist" and less "medical marvel." 3D printed gel scaffolds, heart cells from rats, and a little bit of liquefied food and these faux organs are juiced up and ready to go. Through what is fundamentally a heartbeat, biobots can inch their way along at about 236 micrometres per second. Not quite world dominating speeds, but as DVICE contributor Adario Strange points out: "...[give them] about 50-80 years and you have the makings of what could turn out to be real-life Replicants." For good of course, not evil.
6. Stem cells
Regarding those rat heart cells that were used to make those Biobots: you needn't worry about armies of rat-people replicants rising up to destroy us. That’s because the synthetic organs of the future will be constructed out of lab-printed stem cells, not rat heart cells. A team of researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland pioneered the technique. 3D printed spheres of nutrients house and nurture the growth of stem cell after stem cell, allowing for supplies in large enough amounts to theoretically create replacement organs for each and every patient waiting on an organ donor list.
7. Nerve tissue
Oxford University scientists have just recently created a new type of human tissue that seems capable of transmitting electrical impulses in the same way that nerves do. Just as fascinating, the basic structures of these tissues have been printed entirely from oil and water. Adding membrane proteins to this simple solution was what allowed the Oxford team to send electrical impulses through the tissue, mimicking home-grown nerves.
8. Bio-Ink
Another take on the whole printable organs concept comes to us from Iowa State University, where a team led by Professor Ibrahim Ozbolat is using a substance called bio-ink and a one-of-a-kind bio-printer to create organ structures. Yes, they have their eyes on transplants like the rest of our examples, but Prof. Ozbolat has a few other tricks up his sleeve: "one of the most promising research activities is bio-printing a glucose-sensitive pancreatic organ that can be grown in a lab and transplanted anywhere inside the body to regulate the glucose level of blood." Reread that: a "pancreatic organ" that can be transplanted "anywhere in the body." These guys are actually conceptualizing new organs to print. Now that's some innovative science.
Via Phys.org
9. Emma's magic arms
Not every medical 3D printing project needs to involve amazing science and the construction of organs from scratch. Emma was born with arthrogryposis, a condition that meant she could not move her arms on her own. Because Emma was young and still growing, a traditional prosthetic would be outgrown time and again. Emma now has the use of her limbs thanks to her "magic arms," 3D printed constructs that aid her mobility. Emma, being a kid, has broken a few pieces of her prosthetic here and there and outgrown the device at least once. Not to worry, though, because in each case replacements were printed right up and Emma was given back her mobility quick as a wink.
Via Stratasys
10. Teeth
Stratasys, the same company behind Emma's magic arms, is also spearheading the introduction of 3D printing into the world of orthodontics. Crowns and dentures existed before 3D printing, but the new technology is allowing for faster, more accurate dental appliances. Plus, taking a 3D scan of a patient's mouth looks a lot less invasive than stuffing their mouth full of gel and taking a mould. Awesome. Crowns used to take a week to come back from the lab, but it looks like they'll be ready next-day or maybe even while you wait. The systems are even designed to be accessible to smaller dental clinics, making small communities just as likely to get these improved appliances as major cities. Viva la 3D printing revolución!
Via Stratasys
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