Technique Breaks the Mold for 3D-Printing Medical Implants
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia)
By Gosia Kaszubska
The development of three-dimensionally (3D)-printed molds by researchers at Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) invert the traditional 3D printing of medical implants. The Negative Embodied Sacrificial Template 3D (NEST3D) printing method generates molds featuring intricately patterned cavities filled with biocompatible materials; these are dissolved in water and leave behind fingernail-sized bioscaffolds with elaborate structures that standard 3D printers could not previously produce. The RMIT researchers developed NEST3D with collaborators at the University of Melbourne and St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne. RMIT's Cathal O'Connell said, "We essentially draw the structure we want in the empty space inside our 3D-printed mold. This allows us to create the tiny, complex microstructures where cells will flourish." RMIT's Stephanie Doyle said the technique's versatility allowed the production of dozens of trial bioscaffolds using a range of materials. .... "
No comments:
Post a Comment