Researchers at the University of Buffalo have presented their novel 3D printing method with an incredible video, showing what the future of fast, artificial organ production could be.
The research team’s incredible seven-second video, which is 19 minutes faster, showcasing hand prints, takes up to six hours to use traditional 3D printing methods.
“The technology we’ve developed is 10-50 times faster than the industry standard, and it works with large sample sizes that are very difficult to achieve before.” Said Ruang Zhao, associate professor of biomedical engineering, Ph.D., co-lead author of the study.
This technique is called stereolithography and it uses hydrogels, a jelly-like substance used to make diapers, contact lenses, and most importantly, scaffolding in tissue engineering.
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In Buffalo’s team, the university acquired centimeter-sized hydrogel models, which, in turn, reduced the deformation of the structure felt in other 3D printing methods.
According to co-lead author, Chi Zuna, the team’s method would be ideal for printing cells with embedded blood vessel networks, which is a desperate prospect now, but perhaps a more common medical technique in the near future.
These advances in 3D printing in the emerging crossover between the product and biomedical devices industries that could save the lives of countless people around the world in the future are critical to the development of fully functional 3D printed components. In 2018 alone, there were somewhere in the field of 146,840 organ transplants worldwide.
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