Printing replacement body parts may sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, but since 3D printing was introduced in the 1980s, scientists have been aspiring to make this a reality. Now, a team from Texas in the US has developed a super tough biomaterial that could be used to print load-bearing body parts such as knee cartilage.
The Texas team 3D printed a meniscus out of an alginate-containing hydrogel
A severe shortage of donors and biocompatibility issues are just two of the hurdles hindering successful transplants. Printing replacement tissues that function as well as, or better than the original tissue could be a way to side-step these obstacles.
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3D printing of an extremely tough hydrogel
Junhua Wei, Jilong Wang, Siheng Su, Shiren Wang, Jingjing Qiu, Zhenhuan Zhang, Gordon Christopher, Fuda Ning and Weilong Cong �
RSC Adv., 2015,5, 81324-81329
DOI: 10.1039/C5RA16362E, Paper
