Researchers at Duke College and Harvard Medical College have made strides in 3D printing by growing a bio-compatible ink that solidifies in deep tissues utilizing ultrasound waves. This innovation allows the creation of 3D buildings in biomedical fields, corresponding to bone therapeutic and coronary heart valve restore. The approach has lately featured within the journal Science, and affords a novel strategy to 3D printing in medication.
Conventional 3D printing strategies, particularly in biomedicine, face limitations resulting from their reliance on mild, which can’t penetrate deep tissues. The newly developed methodology, deep-penetrating acoustic volumetric printing (DVAP), makes use of a specialised ink, often known as sono-ink, that responds to sound waves as a substitute of sunshine. This strategy considerably extends the attain of 3D printing into deeper tissues with excessive precision.
DVAP operates on the sonothermal impact, the place absorbed soundwaves elevate temperatures to solidify the ink. The sono-ink, a mix of hydrogels, microparticles, and molecules, is designed to react particularly to ultrasound waves. The ultrasound printing expertise, pioneered by Junjie Yao at Duke College, permits for the creation of various buildings, corresponding to bone-like scaffolds and hydrogel bubbles for organ functions.
“We’re nonetheless removed from bringing this instrument into the clinic, however these checks reaffirmed the potential of this expertise,” stated Zhang.
“As a result of we will print by means of tissue, it permits for lots of potential functions in surgical procedure and remedy that historically contain very invasive and disruptive strategies,” stated Junjie Yao, affiliate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke.
“This work opens up an thrilling new avenue within the 3D printing world, and we’re excited to discover the potential of this instrument collectively.”
The flexibility of DVAP is additional demonstrated by means of its adjustable composition, enabling the creation of buildings with various sturdiness and degradability. The group efficiently performed checks on sealing coronary heart sections in a goat, tissue regeneration in a rooster leg bone defect mannequin, and therapeutic drug supply utilizing chemotherapy-infused ink in liver tissue. These checks showcased DVAP’s potential in varied medical functions with out damaging surrounding tissues.
You’ll be able to learn the analysis paper, titled “Self-enhancing sono-inks allow deep-penetration acoustic volumetric printing” over at this hyperlink.
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