Two summers ago, I interned at one of the most esteemed places ever: NASA. Let's just say that this communication studies major knew she was in for a summer full of unfamiliar jargon and technologies. Prior to my internship, I had never heard of 3D printing. It sounded like something straight out of a science-fiction movie. I watched as kids (yes, kids) learned how to use a 3D printer and create their own little plastic objects during one of the summer camps I helped with. The concept of 3D printing in this story involved the printer melting plastic and carefully "tracing" a flat surface with the melted plastic. The plastic would then harden and become a 3D object.
To me, this concept seemed cool, but I wasn't sure what more this new technology could do and how much further it could go. I mean, what good would melting plastic into little shapes do for the world? Recently, I was proven very wrong. Living, functioning body parts are now being 3D-printed. If that doesn't say science-fiction movie, I don't know what does.
This technology uses living tissues to restore and repair various human body parts. According to James Gallagher, "The team at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre developed a new technique that 3D-prints a tissue riddled with micro-channels, rather like a sponge, to allow nutrients to penetrate the tissue."
Scientists have already tested the process with animals and have succeeded. Once implanted into the body, the cells are able to grow. The only issue? Gallagher states that "the field has been limited by the huge challenge of keeping the cells alive -- they become starved of oxygen and nutrients in tissues thicker than 0.2 millimetres."
Now, a human ear has been produced using a 3D printer using artificial body parts and living cells. But again, keeping the cells alive has been the challenge of this new technology. Scientists have been working carefully to modify 3D printers to produce human body parts. Nala Rogers reports: "First, it interweaves a gooey, cell-friendly hydrogel with a stiffer substance that offers structural support. Second, it leaves tiny channels for oxygen to enter so that cells in the middle won’t suffocate."
This revolutionary invention could improve the lives and confidence of so many people. And before you think that this is just for the aesthetic appeal, the structure of the "printer allows it to print out tissues that can accommodate blood vessels, meaning they can receive the oxygen and nutrients that cells need to survive." It has the ability to create ears, organs, bones, tissue, jaw bones, and more.
Who knows? Maybe one day someone you know, or even you, may need a 3D-printed body part. It just may save your life.
