News • New printing method
Self-folding 4D electrodes enhance nerve stimulation
Using 4D printing technology, researchers have developed flexible electrodes. On contact with moisture, they automatically fold and wrap themselves around thin nerves.
Printing
News • Size-changing and personalised
Researchers create 4D printed implants for efficient breast cancer management
Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have created personalised 4D printed “smart” implants for breast cancer management - a first for this technology.
News • Vaccination & Biomedical Technology
Vaccines on demand - the mobile vaccine printer
Getting vaccines to people who need them isn't always easy. Many vaccines require cold storage, making it difficult to ship them to remote areas that don't have the necessary infrastructure.
News • Parkinson disease detection
Low-cost sensor detects early-stage Parkinson's disease in biological samples
Researchers at the University of Campinas and the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil have developed an electrochemical sensor that detects Parkinson's disease at different stages.
Article • Inks and polymers
3D printed pharmaceuticals for personalized therapies
60 percent of all administered drugs do not have the desired therapeutic effect. Even worse: in Germany alone about 60,000 deaths per year are caused by medication. With these shocking statistics Professor Dr Christian Franken started his presentation on “Pills from the 3D printer” at last year’s Medica in Düsseldorf. He hopes that his vision of personalized medication based on 2D and 3D…
Video • Potential for all-in-one endoscopic surgical tool
Soft robot for 3D bioprinting inside the human body
Researchers at the University of New South Wales unveil prototype device that can directly 3D print living cells onto internal organs and potentially be used as an all-in-one endoscopic surgical tool.
News • AI enables greater mobility
Personalized finger joint implants from a 3D printer
Researchers use AI to develop personalized 3D-printed joint implants so that these delicate finger parts can be replaced when necessary (e.g. after illness or injury).
Article • Custom parts made in the lab
3D printed implants on demand
A custom-made new hip, a knee or maybe a piece of bone? The technology and possibilities for 3D printing are (almost) there. And such an implant from a 3D printer has many advantages, not only for the patient, but also for the surgeon who has to perform the operation. Koen Willemsen, physician, and medical engineer at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), was at the cradle of the 3D lab…
News • Bioprinting in cancer
3D printing patient-specific tumours
Bowel cancer patients could in future benefit from a new 3D bioprinting technology which would use their own cells to replicate the complex cellular environment of solid tumours in 3D models.
News • Self-powered
Smart implants monitor spinal fusion healing
Spinal fusion—fusing two vertebrae together—can treat a wide variety of spinal disorders. A patient-specific 3D-printed smart metamaterial implant doubles as sensor to monitor spinal healing.
News • Novel manufacturing technique
3D printed heart valves to support tissue growth
Researchers have developed 3D printed artificial heart valves designed to allow a patient’s own cells to form new tissue.
News • Opening the blood-brain barrier
3D-printed acoustic holograms against Alzheimer's or Parkinson's
A research team in Spain and the US has created 3D-printed acoustic holograms to improve the treatment of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, among others.
News • Healing support
Bioprinting for bone repair improved with genes
An international team of engineers is bioprinting bone along with two growth factor encoding genes that help incorporate the cells and heal defects in the skulls of rats.
News • 'Sweet' assistance
3D printed vascular models to help cancer therapy
3D-printed sugar models of dense and chaotic blood vessel networks near tumors could help future cancer treatments.
News • Additive manufacturing
3D printing testicular cells
In a pair of world firsts, scientists have 3D printed human testicular cells and identified promising early signs of sperm-producing capabilities.
News • Additive manufacturing
'Smart' 3D-printed braces for scoliosis treatment
Researchers have developed a new type of lightweight 3D-printed back brace capable of sensing how effectively it fits patients. Its developers say it could lead to improved treatment for scoliosis.
Article • Additive manufacturing
3D printable biomaterial for personalised medicine
Evonik offers a comprehensive portfolio of 3D printable med-tech biomaterials that can be used to produce medical devices with temporary or permanent body contact. Marc Knebel, head of Medical Systems at Evonik, explains the benefits and applications of the new high-performance polymer VESTAKEEP Care M40 3DF.
Article • Bioprinting
3D biocomposites can repair large bone defects
Loosening hip implants can cause major damage to the bone and a simple replacement won’t suffice to carry the load during movements. “To solve this problem we have to turn to innovative technologies such as bioprinting. Scaffolds are required that – while adapting slowly – offer long-term stability,” says Professor Dr Dieter Wirtz, Director of the Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma…
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.
News • Microbiology
Using 3D printing technique to create biofilms
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…
News • Titanium-alloy knee plates
3D printing simplifies high tibial osteotomy
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…
News • Brain cancer research
Researchers 3D-print entire active tumor
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…
News • Microscopy
New imaging technique to improve 3D printed bio-implants
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…
News • Biomimetic scaffold
4D printing could enable vascularization, bone tissue regeneration, spinal fusion
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.
Video • Bioprinting breakthrough
3D printed mini pancreas to help fight diabetes
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…
