News • Additive manufacturing
3D printed medication activated by smartphone screen
The light from a smartphone screen can be used to print medications, in a new 3D printing technique developed by UCL researchers.
The light from a smartphone screen can be used to print medications, in a new 3D printing technique developed by UCL researchers.
Researchers at the University of Rochester, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands recently developed a 3D printing technique to engineer and study biofilms—three-dimensional communities of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that adhere to surfaces. The research provides important information for creating synthetic materials and in developing drugs to fight the negative effects of…
3D metal printing technology is producing personalised medical-grade titanium-alloy plates that perfectly fit individuals suffering arthritis of the knee. Engineers at the University of Bath’s Centre for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) working with 3D Metal Printing Ltd, are using the TOKA (Tailored Osteotomy for Knee Alignment) treatment to improve the surgical procedure and fit of high-tibial…
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have 3D-printed a first-of-its-kind glioblastoma tumor that mimics a living cancer malignancy, powering new methods to improve treatment and accelerate the development of new drugs for the most lethal type of brain cancer. Glioblastoma is notoriously fatal as it accounts for the majority of brain tumors and is highly aggressive. The average survival time of…
University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new microscopic imaging approach to take a closer look at 3D-printing for developing future patient implants, as well as improved disease modelling and drug screening. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) platforms create bioprinted structures by moving a special bioink, containing cells, biomolecules and materials, through a narrow tube, but…
Spinal fusion is frequently performed to restore spinal stability in patients with spinal diseases, such as spinal stenosis, vertebral fractures, progressive deformities, and instability. In the past two decades, there has been marked increase in the number of people over 65 years in age who have needed spinal fusion surgery.
First you see it as a transparent shape on a computer screen – a small electronic replica of the human pancreas. Then just 30 seconds later the tissue is printed out on a bioprinter, blood vessels and all, from a sample of human stem cells. This amazing feat is possible thanks to new technology created at EPFL’s Laboratory of Applied Photonics Devices (LAPD) and further developed by…
Research into 3D bioprinting has grown rapidly in recent years as scientists seek to re-create the structure and function of complex biological systems from human tissues to entire organs. The most popular 3D printing approach uses a solution of biological material or bioink that is loaded into a syringe pump extruder and deposited in a layer-by-layer fashion to build the 3D object. Gravity,…
Increasingly, hospitals use 3D printing in surgery because the technology can enable fast, unique production of patient-tailored tools at relatively low costs. ‘As the technology itself is developing and accelerating at a fast pace, hospitals may be left behind if they choose not to adopt these advances,’ said Limor Haviv, surgical 3D printing designer at 3D4OP. Today, 3D printing is used in…
Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in a new paper, it has the potential to create complex structures with nanometer-scale precision. Because many gels are compatible with living cells, the new method could jump-start the production of soft tiny medical devices such as…
Medical device approved 3-D printers are producing clinically safe and effective nasopharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 testing. A nasal swab may seem rudimentary, but is essential for testing COVID-19. Diagnostic test kits and components – nasal swabs, collection vials, and chemical reagents – have been in short supply worldwide, especially in March. Ironically, nasopharyngeal swabs are…
A team of researchers led by the University of Adelaide and University of Stuttgart has used 3D micro-printing to develop the world’s smallest, flexible scope for looking inside blood vessels. The camera-like imaging device can be inserted into blood vessels to provide high quality 3D images to help scientists better understand the causes of heart attack and heart disease progression, and could…
The production of highly sensitive sensors is a complex process: it requires many different steps and the almost dust-free environment of special cleanrooms. A research team from Materials Science at Kiel University (CAU) and from Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University of Moldova has now developed a procedure to produce extremely sensitive and energy-efficient sensors using 3D…
BellaSeno GmbH, a company developing absorbable scaffolds using additive manufacturing technologies, announced a collaboration with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin under the recently established SyMBoD consortium. Under the agreement, BellaSeno will design and manufacture personalized, 3D-printed, absorbable implants suitable for the treatment of diabetes patients with bone defects. The…
As countries worldwide face the challenge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Ultimaker is making its global network of 3D printing hubs, experts, and designers directly available to hospitals in need of tools and applications that are short in supply and can be quickly produced with 3D printing.
Glioblastomas are complex, fast-growing malignant brain tumors that are made up of various types of cells. Even with aggressive treatment — which often includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy — glioblastomas are difficult to treat, leading to an average survival of 11-15 months. In research published in Science Advances, Xavier Intes, a professor of biomedical engineering at Rensselaer,…
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a way to 3D print living skin, complete with blood vessels. The advancement, published in Tissue Engineering Part A, is a significant step toward creating grafts that are more like the skin our bodies produce naturally. “Right now, whatever is available as a clinical product is more like a fancy Band-Aid,” said Pankaj Karande, an…
Twenty people die every day waiting for an organ transplant in the U.S., and while more than 30,000 patients now receive transplants annually, another 113,000 are currently on organ waitlists. Many people see artificially grown human organs as the Holy Grail for resolving the organ shortage, and advances in 3D printing have led to a boom in using that technique to build living tissue constructs…
With the help of a 3D printed salt template, ETH researchers from ETH Zurich have succeeded in producing magnesium scaffolds with structured porosity that are suitable for bioresorbable bone implants. For the treatment of complex bone fractures or even missing bone parts, surgeons typically deploy metal implants. In this context, an attractive alternative to the traditional materials like…
Surgery complications, implant rupture, tissue contractures or even plain immune intolerance – silicone breast implants can cause a variety of unfavourable conditions. Because of this, many women think twice about breast augmentation. A new kind of implant might change this up a bit. BellaSeno GmbH, a company developing absorbable implants using additive manufacturing technology, now announced…
Scientists at ETH Zürich and the South African company Strait Access Technologies are using 3D printing to produce custom-made artificial heart valves from silicone. This could help meet an ageing population’s growing demand for replacement heart valves. The human heart has four chambers, each equipped with a valve to ensure blood flow in one direction only. If any of the heart valves are…
The production of artificial organs is a hot research topic. In the near future, artificial organs will compensate for the lack of organ donations and replace animal experiments. Although there are already promising experiments with 3D printers that use a „bio-ink“ containing living cells, a functional organ has never been created in this way. A European consortium coordinated by Dr Elena…
Two millions: this is, worldwide, the number of babies which suffer suffocation during birth every year. A resuscitation procedure is sometimes the key to avert irreparable damages for the baby. And, for successful outcomes, promptness of action and preparation are vital. Researcher Mark Thielen (Industrial Design) from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) developed a 3D printed baby…
The future of medicine is biological – and scientists hope we will soon be using 3D-printed biologically functional tissue to replace irreparably damaged tissue in the body. A team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB has been working with the University of Stuttgart for a number of years on a project to develop and optimize suitable…
In a major medical breakthrough, Tel Aviv University researchers have "printed" the world's first 3D vascularised engineered heart using a patient's own cells and biological materials. Until now, scientists in regenerative medicine — a field positioned at the crossroads of biology and technology — have been successful in printing only simple tissues without blood vessels. "This…