A team of biomedical researchers at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has just completed a 3D printer that can craft relatively simple tissues like cartilage into large complex shapes—like an infant's ear. Using cartridges that are brimming with biodegradable plastic and human cells bound up in gel, this new kind of 3D printer builds complex chunks of growing muscle, cartilage, and even bone. When implanted into animals, these simple fabricated tissues survive and thrive indefinitely. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a19443/3d-printer-bone-cartilidge-and-muscle/
If it can craft muscle (complete with neurons?), possibly a replacement technique as a substitute for higher dosages of steroids for body sculpting in sports medicine? That could salvage a few kidneys. Also a game changer for Hugh Laurie's character "House"? No more limping, no more canes. Better prosthetic noses, arms and legs too. Can the tactile-realistic skin of the terminator robot be far off?
Rice University bioengineering researchers are working on a similar 3D bioprinter. They have modified a commercial-grade CO2 laser cutter to create OpenSLS, an open-source, selective laser sintering platform that can print intricate 3-D objects from powdered plastics and biomaterials. The system costs at least 40 times less than its commercial counterparts and allows researchers to work with their own specialized powdered materials. http://phys.org/news/2016-02-bioengineers-open-source-laser-sintering-printer.html Paper: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147399
