The new Lego-type building blocks can be used to heal broken bones more effectively than current methods, new research reveals. Scientists believe the new technology could even help build organs for transplants in the future.
3D printed bricks can be used to repair broken bones by helping hard and soft tissues regrow in a better way than current methods used by doctors, scientists in the US and Thailand have discovered. Complex bone fractures are generally fixed with metal rods or plates and powders or pastes that act as scaffolding materials.
The new blocks “They can be stacked like Legos and placed in thousands of different configurations to match the complexity and size of almost any situation” Principal investigator Luiz Bertassoni, an associate professor at the University of Oregon Health and Science College of Dentistry OHSU, told the media.
The scientists used the gel-filled blocks to stimulate growth in the rats’ bones, and it resulted in nearly three times the usual amount of blood vessel growth.
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“3D printed micro-cage technology improves healing by stimulating the right type of cells to grow in the right place at the right time” Study co-author Ramesh Subbiah said in an interview. “Different growth factors can be placed within each block, allowing us to repair tissues more accurately and quickly.”
The researchers say the technology could be used to heal bones affected by cancer treatment, for spinal procedures, and to strengthen jaw bones before a dental implant is inserted.
The blocks could also be made of different materials that could then be used to repair soft tissue, they believe. Scientists even hope that, with more research, the locking method can be applied to make transplant organs.
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