34 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2018
Tissues with Blood Vessels
Researchers at Harvard University are mak-
ing great progress in bioprinting blood vessels,
a crucial step towards printing tissues with a
blood supply. The lab of Dr. Jennifer Lewis
designed a custom-built 3D printer and a dis
-
solving ink to create a swatch of tissue con-
taining skin cells interwoven with structural
material that can potentially function as blood
vessels.
Low-cost Prosthetic Parts
Creating traditional prosthetics is very time-
consuming and destructive because any mod-
ifications to the prosthetics would destroy the
original molds. Moreover, the cost of tradition-
al prosthetics is a barrier to those without sig-
nificant resources. Researchers at the Universi-
ty of Toronto, in collaboration with Autodesk
Research and CBM Canada, used 3D printing
to quickly produce cheap and easily custom-
izable prosthetic sockets and limbs for a wide
variety of patients' needs (Figure 5).
Drugs
I found a TED Talk video by Lee Cronin, a
chemist at the University of Glasgow, describ-
ing a printer that
would be able to 3D
print custom medi-
cations (Figure 6).
In this video, he
describes a prototype
3D printer capable
of assembling chem-
ical compounds at
the molecular level. He states that the proto-
type printer will make the medicine molecules
in the printer using the software he describes.
Patients would go to an online drugstore
with their digital prescription, buy the blue-
print and the chemical ink needed, and then
print the drug at home as they need it. In the
future, Cronin suggests that we might sell not
drugs, but rather blueprints or applications. Of
course, there are control issues, and this is in
no way ready for prime time, but as I often
say, we live in an age where if you can imagine
it, we can eventually do it. Progress is already
being made in this direction. Louisiana Tech-
nical University researchers have printed bio-
compatible, biodegradable devices for deliver-
ing bone cancer medicines.
Medical Equipment
3D printing to make medical devices is a key
focal point. It is now possible to 3D print devic-
es made of silica glass. Making devices that are
very hard to shape, such as some optical lens-
es, can now be made more accurately and at
lower costs. The simpler devices, such as fin-
ger splints, are readily available now because
they can be 3D printed locally. If you have the
printer and can gain access to download the
file, the complex curves and shapes needed
can be accomplished and are almost limitless.
Plaster Casts Personalized for the Patient
Most of us have had a cast at some time in
our lives, so you can imagine the advantag-
es of having one that is custom designed to fit
you instead of one being molded on to you.
Bones and Cranium Replacements
Professor Susmita Bose of Washington
State University modified a 3D printer to bind
Figure 5: 3D prosthetic and medical device.
Figure 6: 3D-printed pills.
(Source: Aprecia Pharma)
