Printing Out the Human Body

As we have been working with 3D software and 3D printing for the past couple of weeks, I have begun to find many examples of 3D printing in recent news.  There have been a particularly high amount of posts lately amount the contributions that 3D printing can give back in the medical field. Below are just some examples that I found particularly interesting.

Back in April, CNN published a story about the ability to actually print out body parts. These ranged anywhere from prosthetic eyes and ears, to even bones themselves.  Originally, using 3D printing in the medical field focused on more realistic looking fake limbs and body parts. One particular company in the UK has made a business of mass producing prosthetic eyes that are cheaper than glass ones and more realistic in their printing of eye colors.

Over time, individuals in the medical field have begun to further expand on what is possible. Using the same technology of 3D printing, scientists have begun to print out the objects they want with ink gels containing actual living cells. The possibilities of what this can actually do is hard to even imagine. Researchers in Washington State University have been dealing with the process in which they are able to actually print out replacement bones. Printed out of calcium phosphate (which is bones are primarily composed of), these 3D printed bones are seen as possible temporary structures in which broken bones can regrow on.

Coming out of this use of printing with living cells, one particularly intriguing development is actually leading to being able to print out skin.  Rather than traditional skin grafts, this method would be a spray of skin cells customized to the patient through collection of their own DNA.

 Step 1: 3D scan the wound

 Step 2: Print first layer of skin cells

 Step 3: Print second layer of skin cells

Not only is this process much less painful than skin grafts, it also takes less time to heal.  There are still issues to be looked at, such as the connection of the skin to blood vessels, but slowly it is becoming more likely to actually work.