3D Printer – Page 20

3D Printer, Biotech, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Scientists create artificial, ‘living aneurysm’ outside the human brain in extraordinary first

November 6, 2020

For the first time, researchers have 3D printed a ‘living’ model of an aneurysm outside the body, using human brain cells. The breakthrough could one day assist brain surgeons in both training and high-risk decision-making.

An aneurysm occurs when a bulge or bubble develops at a weak point in a given blood vessel, which can take place in the heart or brain. The weakened wall can eventually rupture, with catastrophic and life-threatening consequences for the patient.

Given the highly sensitive and delicate areas in which aneurysms take place, they are often extremely difficult to both find and treat.

As a potential solution, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), including scientists from Duke University and Texas A&M, have created an external, artificial replica which mimics the particular environment in which aneurysms occur.

Continue reading… “Scientists create artificial, ‘living aneurysm’ outside the human brain in extraordinary first”

3D Printer, Engineering, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Researchers 3D-printed a cell-sized tugboat

November 5, 2020

The aim was to see how microorganisms like sperm or bacteria swim.

Physicists at Leiden University in the Netherlands have 3D printed what could be the world’s smallest boat, a test object known as Benchy (via Gizmodo). At 30 microns long, it’s a third smaller than the thickness of a human hair and about six times larger than a bacteria cell. It’s not only small but surprisingly detailed, with an open cockpit that features some tricky geometry. The goal is to understand how “microswimmers” like bacteria and sperm move through liquids.

Continue reading… “Researchers 3D-printed a cell-sized tugboat”

3D Printer, Art, Entertainment, Food, Science & Technology News

Bulleit introduces futuristic 3D printed cocktail

November 4, 2020

Different groundbreaking digital tools have infiltrated just about every aspect of the modern world as technology continues to improve at an ever faster rate. But one area that’s been largely untouched by tech is the bar scene. You can still find bartenders crafting drinks the same way they have for hundreds of years at the local watering hole.

That may change soon with the help of 3D printed technology recently debuted to the public as a part of Bulleit’s Frontier Works program, a series of projects and collaborations with cultural creators.

A crowd filled with industry insiders and social media influencers gathered at an abandoned train station in Oakland, California to get a glimpse into the potential future of the alcoholic beverage industry. Guests were served drinks at a giant bar made completely of 3D printed plastic but managed to look like rustic copper, an achievement its architects took pride in after completing the largest node-based printing structure they’d ever taken on.

“[Bulleit] wanted us to go bigger in scale, which is really uncommon and something they deserve credit for,” said Machine Histories principal Jason Pilarski. Computational designer Ryan Oenning compared the task to turning in a rough draft for your master’s thesis.

Impressive as the structure was, a much smaller booth adjacent to it drew more attention as the night went on. That’s where German robotics pioneers Benjamin Greimel and Philipp Hornung supervised a robotic arm making 3D printed cocktails.

Continue reading… “Bulleit introduces futuristic 3D printed cocktail”

3D Printer, Great New Product, Housing, Science & Technology News

3D printing for residential in market-ready: Germany’s first building is under construction

November 2, 2020

The first 3D printed residential building in Germany, built by PERI GmbH, and designed by MENSE-KORTE ingenieure+architekten is undergoing construction in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The two-story printed detached house with approx. 80 sqm of living space per floor is using a system put into practice in Germany for the first time. In fact, the construction technique has come through all of the regulatory approval processes over the last few weeks and months.

3D printing technology for residential construction is now market-ready. Part of North Rhine-Westphalia’s “Innovatives Bauen” or innovative construction development scheme, the first residential 3D printed building is under construction in Germany. In collaboration with Schießl Gehlen Sodeikat, the Technical University of Munich, and MENSE-KORTE ingenieure+architekten, the two-story house is being built for the client Hous3Druck GmbH. A milestone for 3D construction printing technology, the construction of the 3D-printed residential building in Beckum, has engendered other residential printing projects to be drawn up in Germany, according to Thomas Imbacher, Innovation & Marketing Director at PERI GmbH.

Continue reading… “3D printing for residential in market-ready: Germany’s first building is under construction”

3D Printer, Coronavirus, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

3D-printed pharmaceuticals pave the way for customizable drug therapies

November 1, 2020

Personalized pills created by 3D printers will help treat complex diseases cheaply.

Since its inception during the later decades of the last century, 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) has moved far beyond merely fabricating simple plastic parts. Today the technique can be used to produce much-needed medical supplies such as personal protective equipment for health care workers fighting COVID-19. Among other advances, 3D printing is now also considered a serious tool to advance medicine and pharmacology through bioprinting. Bioprinting can create anatomical models of patients prior to surgery and some biological tissues, with the goal of progressing to printing whole complex organs such as the heart. However, another emerging and potentially revolutionary use for 3D bioprinting is the production of pharmaceutical drugs that are tailored to meet the needs of specific patients.

In 2015 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first 3D-printed pharmaceutical, SPRITAM (levetiracetam), created by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of seizures. Although the drug remains the only 3D-printed drug currently approved by the FDA, the many advantages of 3D-printed drugs place them at the forefront of what’s ahead for medicine as the FDA works on formulating a regulatory framework for them.

Continue reading… “3D-printed pharmaceuticals pave the way for customizable drug therapies”

3D Printer, NASA, Science & Technology News, Space

Project Olympus : ICON chosen by NASA to develop moon base 3D printing tech

October 18, 2020

The hype around additive construction continues to grow. Unlike the days in which WinSun would “3D print” a six-story apartment building, we’re seeing numerous projects undertaken by a variety of firms around the world. All of this seems to demonstrate that, despite the hype, there is real technological value there. When that same value will be exhibited for the new space industry and 3D printing buildings on the moon remains unclear, but we can’t rule the possibilities out entirely.

The latest news combining the yet-to-be-fulfilled new space frontier with additive construction is called Project Olympus, a NASA-funded initiative aimed at developing a method for robotic building on the moon. Olympus is being driven by a firm that has been steadily making a name for itself in construction 3D printing: ICON. Adding to its $44 million raised from investors so far is the recent Small Business Innovation Research government contract from NASA to 3D print habitats on the moon using local materials and creating no waste.

Continue reading… “Project Olympus : ICON chosen by NASA to develop moon base 3D printing tech”

3D Printer, Automobiles, Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News

All-electric race car made possible with electron beam metal 3D printing

October 16, 2020

Supported by Innovate UK, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) works to speed up industrial growth in the UK by creating and embedding future skills and developing and proving manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing. The latter is specifically what the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM), part of the MTC, focuses on, and its DRAMA research project spent the last three years setting up a stronger AM supply chain for aerospace. But the NCAM also supports automotive and motorsports AM applications: a perfect example of this can be found in the recent work its Coventry team has done to help Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR), the Oxford Brookes University‘s formula student racing team, reach its 2020 all-electric goal.

OBR is one of the top UK formula student racing (FSUK) teams, and has worked with the MTC on a number of projects before. So the team knew that its NCAM would be the perfect partner to help them take things to the next level.

Continue reading… “All-electric race car made possible with electron beam metal 3D printing”

3D Printer, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

3-D bioprinting constructs for cartilage regeneration

October 2, 2020

Schematic presentation of the study design and scaffold construction. (A) Schematic Illustration of the study design with 3D bioprinted dual-factor releasing and gradient-structured MSC-laden constructs for articular cartilage regeneration in rabbits. Schematic diagram of construction of the anisotropic cartilage scaffold and study design. (B) A computer-aided design (CAD) model was used to design the four-layer gradient PCL scaffolding structure to offer BMS for anisotropic chondrogenic differentiation and nutrient supply in deep layers (left). Gradient anisotropic cartilage scaffold was constructed by one-step 3D bioprinting gradient polymeric scaffolding structure and dual protein-releasing composite hydrogels with bioinks encapsulating BMSCs with BMP4 or TGFβ3 μS as BCS for chondrogenesis (middle). The anisotropic cartilage construct provides structural support and sustained release of BMSCs and differentiative proteins for biomimetic regeneration of the anisotropic articular cartilage when transplanted in the animal model (right). Different components in the diagram are depicted at the bottom. HA, hyaluronic acid.

Cartilage injury is a common cause of joint dysfunction and existing joint prostheses cannot remodel with host joint tissue. However, it is challenging to develop large-scale biomimetic anisotropic constructs that structurally mimic native cartilage. In a new report on Science Advances, Ye Sun and a team of scientists in orthopedics, translational research and polymer science in China, detailed anisotropic cartilage regeneration using three-dimensional (3-D) bioprinting dual-factor releasing gradient-structured constructs. The team used the dual-growth-factor releasing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-laden hydrogels for chondrogenic differentiation (cartilage development). The 3-D bioprinted cartilage constructs showed whole-layer integrity, lubrication of superficial layers and nutrient supply into deeper layers. The scientists tested the cartilage tissue in the lab and in animal models to show tissue maturation and organization for translation to humans after sufficient experimental studies. The one-step, 3-D printed dual-factor releasing gradient-structured cartilage constructs can assist regeneration of MSC- and 3-D bioprinted therapy for injured or degenerative joints.

Continue reading… “3-D bioprinting constructs for cartilage regeneration”

3D Printer, Biotech, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Researchers create bioink that delivers oxygen to 3D printed tissue cells

September 25, 2020

Tissue engineering or regeneration is the process of improving upon or replacing biological tissues by combining cells and other materials with the optimal chemical and physiological conditions in order to build scaffolds upon which new viable tissue can form. We’ve seen many examples of 3D printing being used to accomplish this task. The potential to engineer new tissues this way provides an answer to organ transplant shortages and applications in drug discovery.

However, to become viable tissues, these cells need oxygen delivered to them via blood vessels, which, in transplanted tissue, can take several days to grow. But a collaborative group of researchers is working on a solution: an oxygen-releasing bioink that can deliver this all-important element to the cells in 3D bioprinted tissues. This allows the cells to survive while they’re waiting for blood vessels to finish growing.

Continue reading… “Researchers create bioink that delivers oxygen to 3D printed tissue cells”

3D Printer, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine

Cryogenic 3Dprinting improves bioprinting for bone regeneration

September 19, 2020

Researchers from China continue in the quest to improve methods for bone regeneration, publishing their findings in “Cryogenic 3D printing of dual-delivery scaffolds for improved bone regeneration with enhanced vascularization.”

A wide range of projects have emerged regarding new techniques for bone regeneration—especially in the last five years as 3D printing has become more entrenched in the mainstream and bioprinting has continued to evolve. Bone regeneration is consistently challenging, and while bioprinting is still relatively new as a field, much impressive progress has been made due to experimentation with new materials, nanotubes, and innovative structures.

Cell viability is usually the biggest problem. Tissue engineering, while becoming much more successful these days, is still an extremely delicate process as cells must not only be grown but sustained in the lab too. For this reason, scientists are always working to improve structures like scaffolds, as they are responsible in most cases for supporting the cells being printed. In this study, the authors emphasize the need for both “excellent osteogenesis and vascularization” in bone regeneration.

Continue reading… “Cryogenic 3Dprinting improves bioprinting for bone regeneration”

2020 Predictions, 3D Printer, Food, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

3D printing a meatless world: Self-medication with 3D printed food

September 15, 2020

As we’ve seen previously in this series, 3D printing could have a significant impact on the burgeoning meatless meat industry. Moreover, everything is surimi is everything, and everything is surimi. These two claims of mine could have a substantial effect on 3D printing as an industry and our world in general, if they turn out to have substance.

We are however, in the initial stages of a food revolution. The bigger picture sees the Industrial Revolution (which created the current food system of supermarkets, chains, and brands), the Green Revolution (which expanded agricultural production in the 1950’s), bioindustry development (which saw the dawn of AFOs, hormones in meat, caged chickens in their millions, etc.) be joined by another paradigm shift in food production: Lab Food.

Continue reading… “3D printing a meatless world: Self-medication with 3D printed food”

3D Printer, new technology, Robots, Science & Technology News, Wearables

New silicone 3D printing opens up applications for robotics, medicine, wearables

September 12, 2020

The fabrication of soft devices is evolving further, with the completion of recent research performed by US scientists. With the results published in “3D printable tough silicone double networks,” the authors explain how soft materials can be fabricated with micron resolution for complex systems like robotics, as well as new types of wearables.

Soft materials are produced industrially for many applications, with soft matter deployed for shock absorption, conformal requirements, energy recapture and robotics, where devices must be able to deform. Cross-linked materials like silicone rubbers (more formally known as poly(dimethylsiloxanes)) are popular for use due to strong mechanical properties, and temperature and chemical resistance. Most methods for using such materials with traditional techniques like injection molding are extremely limited though, and only suitable for creating basic geometries.

Previous research has shown success with liquid silicone rubber material for 3D printing ink, yielding more complex shapes. Challenges have been noted, however, in terms of structures being printed with overhangs, as well as those with a “high aspect ratio structure,” due to lack of stability like “slumping” before curing. Other experimental techniques have resulted in a lack of resolution, inferior mechanical properties, or slower printing speed.

Continue reading… “New silicone 3D printing opens up applications for robotics, medicine, wearables”