[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by PApagreg

In fact one could argue that 3d printing is starting to get in style

Originally Posted by Papenbrook

Trust me. They were everywhere.





I don't know. I don't think it's going to last.

3D printing may be popular now, but I don't really see it as a "game-changing" piece of hardware/technology. At most, people are going to use it to print casual, inanimate objects.

That doesn't really scream "innovative" or "futuristic".

Originally Posted by sdp

3D printing is definitely a game changer, you're crazy to think otherwise. The tech will continue to evolve, as it is now it's uses are limited but still impressive which include medical ones.

I have to agree with sdp and PApagreg. 3D printing is opening the dawn of new bioengineering applications, where there are hopes to building biological tissue.

Bioprinting is an emerging technology for fabricating artificial tissue and organ constructs. Extensive research is being conducted in bioprinting and its potential as a future source for organ transplants. It is, however, much simpler to print in plastic than living cells.

“Unlike traditional 3D printing of plastics and metal where after you finish printing you have your part, with bioprinting it’s just the beginning. Even after you finish printing there is a long road ahead. You have to incubate the part, simulate its environment – it’s much more complicated,” says Prof. Lipson.

Although organ printing is still in early stage of development, San Diego-based biotech firm Organovo has been using bioprinting to create 3D printed tissues for preclinical drug discovery testing and will begin selling its 3D printed human liver models this year.

“The human liver tissue that we just released could be used for toxicology testing, metabolic testing, and drug-drug interactions,” says Michael Renard, executive vice president of commercial operations at Organovo. “Besides being a functional tissue in shape and size, one of the characteristic is that the tissue lasts for a number of days and weeks. It affords the ability for drug scientists to do longer duration tests,” he adds.

In addition to drug discovery testing, says Renard, “We also have a group that’s beginning to work with tissue designs that could be valuable in the clinic as a therapy to be delivered to patients for a specific unmet medical need.” According to him, “The goal is to continue to advance tissues of higher complexity and closer to the kind of tissues and organs that we see fully formed in people.”

Ibrahim T. Ozbolat, assistant professor at the University of Iowa’s Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department also has been using a 3D printer to print living structures with bio-ink (watch video). The goal is to eventually print a working organ that can be transplanted into a human.

A 3D printed ear, heart valve, and kidney are other organs researchers are currently working on but it’s hard to match the complexities of real-life human organs. The next stage of innovation in bioprinting, says Lipson, will be in multiple heterogeneous tissue to get closer to printing an actual organ. “There are a couple of ideas that have been demonstrated related to vascularity that are promising. The question is how big of a tissue can you keep alive using these approaches and that’s yet to be demonstrated,” he adds.

https://www.asme.org/engineering-top...-in-biomedical

Medical applications for 3D printing are expanding rapidly and are expected to revolutionize health care.1 Medical uses for 3D printing, both actual and potential, can be organized into several broad categories, including: tissue and organ fabrication; creation of customized prosthetics, implants, and anatomical models; and pharmaceutical research regarding drug dosage forms, delivery, and discovery.2 The application of 3D printing in medicine can provide many benefits, including: the customization and personalization of medical products, drugs, and equipment; cost-effectiveness; increased productivity; the democratization of design and manufacturing; and enhanced collaboration.1,3–6 However, it should be cautioned that despite recent significant and exciting medical advances involving 3D printing, notable scientific and regulatory challenges remain and the most transformative applications for this technology will need time to evolve.3–5,7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/

Now that 3-D printing has made it easier to generate custom-made prosthetics, bioengineers are looking ahead at manufacturing actual cellular material. Such technology could be the basis for personalized biomedical devices; tissue-engineered skin, cartilage, and bone; or even working bladders. In new work, researchers review and consider the progress made in 3-D bioprinting and what might be possible in the decades -- or years -- ahead.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0811142640.htm