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3D Printing Soft Body Parts: a Hard Problem That Just Got Easier (sciencemag.org)

Posted by Soulskill on from the jokes-that-write-themselves dept.

sciencehabit writes: Humans are squishy. That's a problem for researchers trying to construct artificial tissues and organs, and one that two separate teams of engineers may have just solved. Using a dish of goo the consistency of mayonnaise as a supporting 'bath,' a team led by biomedical engineer Adam Feinberg at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, can now print 3D biological materials that don't collapse under their own weight as they form—a difficulty that has long stood in the way of printing soft body parts (abstract). Once printed, the structures are stiff enough to support themselves, and they can be retrieved by melting away the supportive goo. The other team, from the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, has a similar system for printing (abstract), but without the slick trick of the melting goo.

19 comments

  1. "Squishy" . . . ? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    . . . as in "Bags of mostly water" . . . ?

    Anyway, 3D printing is yesterday's technology . . . the pros are using 4D printing now: https://www.heidelberg.com/glo...

    Whatever the Hell that means . . .

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:"Squishy" . . . ? by PPH · · Score: 2

      4D printing

      Time is the fourth dimension.

      "You want it when??"

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:"Squishy" . . . ? by blindseer · · Score: 2

      I'd like french toast in the Renaissance.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    3. Re:"Squishy" . . . ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hang on, Voltaire.

    4. Re:"Squishy" . . . ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you watch the video: it looks like an advanced ink jet printer. Which means it's prints ON objects, not the objects themselves.

  2. Criminal potential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally you can disguise robbed body parts as 3d printed, and inplant them in full legality!

  3. Yeah That Or by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    I imagine zero G would make printing squishy things a lot easier. A 3D printed organ facility could probably fund the cost of launching such a facility into space.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Yeah That Or by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, how do you get the drop or filament to fall?

      Guess what? Technology gets better, and "space" is the answer to the problems of the past.

  4. Neo Engrish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "...print 3D biological materials that don't collapse under their own weight as they form..."

    don't => doesn't ?

    1. Re:Neo Engrish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      materials = plural

      dumbfuck. Learn English yourself before thinking you know better.

    2. Re:Neo Engrish by GTRacer · · Score: 1

      Woooooooow. You are one civil grammar Nazi. I'm probably not going to get anywhere with this, but you do know that other languages treat collections differently? Or the GP may have misapplied plurality to the wrong word in the phrase?

      In England, for example, a company's name is often treated like a collection, not a single entity: "IBM have announced upgrades to Watson." So learning English may not be a complete answer.

      Regardless, please have a nice day!

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      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    3. Re:Neo Engrish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Colloquial British slang is not proper English.

    4. Re:Neo Engrish by GTRacer · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity, which part was colloquial British slang?

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!