Dec 1, 2011
3D printers can create bones! BONES!
3D-printed bones act as “scaffolds”
It’s no secret, we LOVE the idea and possibilities of 3D printing. We’ve talked about printing toys, bicycles and bikinis on the show. Enough fun and games, it’s time to get serious. Professor Susmita Bose and a team at Washington State University want to print bones. Bones? Yes, human BONES! The 3D-printed bones act as “scaffolds” to help fill in the blank space (the fracture). Once the scaffold is in place, nature takes its course, creating new cells to heal the break. The 3D bones are designed to dissolve, so patients are left with good ol’ human bone to hold together their good ol’ human bodies.