A team of scientists from the Washington State University (WSU), have spotted yet another use for 3D in the wonderful sphere of medicine.
They have developed a 3D printer to recreate human bones.
The device, dubbed “the 3D bone printer”, makes use of material which is thinner than the width of human hair.
The Imation bone substance, which took the team four years to develop, can then be used as a “bridge” or scaffold to repair the bone.
To make the scaffolding shapes, the team customised a printer which would normally design tridimensional metal objects.
Susmita Bose, study co-author and WSU Professor, commented:
“It’s possible that doctors will be able to custom order replacement bone tissue in a few years. If a doctor has a CT scan of a defect, we can convert it to a CAD file and make the scaffold according to the defect.
“You can use the bone-like ceramic powder as a feed material and it can make whatever you draw on the computer.
“However, what we are trying to develop is the controlled degradation of these scaffolds where as the scaffold dissolves in the body the bone tissue grows over it.”
The researchers claim they have already seen promising results after recreating material for rabbits and rats.
Speaking about 3D printers – lest we forget the one which prints on chocolate in 3D.