Researchers Create Bone-like Material Using Inkjet Printer

There has been exciting news recently for those associated with the dental and orthopedic fields.

A new three-dimensional printer (much like the inkjet printers used in homes and offices across the country) is able to receive commands from a computer and use them to ‘print’ new bone scaffolding.

This occurs as the printer sprays a plastic binder over extraordinarily thin layers of powder.

Essentially, the 3D bone-like objects that are retrieved from the printer act as temporary supports for injured bone tissue.

Once implanted into the particular part of the body in need of the aid, they support bone growth and slowly dissolve, as the new bone takes over.

While this device is not currently available for doctors, the hope is that, in the very near future, doctors will be able to custom order the bone-like tissue to fit the patients’ needs.

After a CT scan of the injured area, the images could be converted to a file recognized by the computer and fed to the printer, so the ‘manufactured bone’ would be a guaranteed fit.

This could be used for nearly any part of the human body, including jaw reconstructions.

Funded with a one and a half million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health, it took several great minds in the fields of mechanical and materials engineering to make the printer a reality.

So far, testing on rats and rabbits has proven very successful.

For more information and a video on this amazing device, visit the full article.