3D printing tagged posts

New way to 3D print custom Medical Devices to boost Performance and Bacterial Resistance

A bacteria-repelling artificial finger joint with customised strength distribution made with the multi-material 3D print process

Using a new 3D printing process, University of Nottingham researchers have discovered how to tailor-make artificial body parts and other medical devices with built-in functionality that offers better shape and durability, while cutting the risk of bacterial infection at the same time.

Study lead, Dr Yinfeng He, from the Centre for Additive Manufacturing, said: “Most mass-produced medical devices fail to completely meet the unique and complex needs of their users. Similarly, single-material 3D printing methods have design limitations that cannot produce a bespoke device with multiple biological or mechanical functions.

“But for the first time, using ...

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New technique breaks the mold for 3D printing medical implants

A tiny and intricate biomedical structure being held on a fingertip of a gloved hand

How to use glue and a high school 3D printer to create tiny implants for tissue engineering. Researchers have flipped traditional 3D printing to create some of the most intricate biomedical structures yet, advancing the development of new technologies for regrowing bones and tissue.

The emerging field of tissue engineering aims to harness the human body’s natural ability to heal itself, to rebuild bone and muscle lost to tumours or injuries.

A key focus for biomedical engineers has been the design and development of 3D printed scaffolds that can be implanted in the body to support cell regrowth.

But making these structures small and complex enough for cells to thrive remains a significant challenge.

Enter a RMIT University-led research team, collaborating with clinicians a...

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Will your Future Clothes be Made of Algae?

A mini T-shirt demonstrates the photosynthetic living materials created in the lab of Rochester biology professor Anne S. Meyer using 3D printers and a new bioink technique. (University of Rochester photo)

For the first time, an international team of researchers from the University of Rochester and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands used 3D printers and a novel bioprinting technique to print algae into living, photosynthetic materials that are tough and resilient. The material has a variety of applications in the energy, medical, and fashion sectors. The research is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

“Three-dimensional printing is a powerful technology for fabrication of living functional materials that have a huge potential in a wide range of env...

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New Combined Process for 3D Printing

nside the 3-D-printed material (right) a lattice structure (left) contains the added liquids. Credit: Harald Rupp/Uni Halle

Chemists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have developed a way to integrate liquids directly into materials during the 3D printing process. This allows, for example, active medical agents to be incorporated into pharmaceutical products or luminous liquids to be integrated into materials, which allow monitoring of damage. The study was published in “Advanced Materials Technologies”.

3D printing is now widely used for a range of applications. Generally, however, the method is limited to materials which are liquefied through heat and become solid after printing...

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