The prototype cells itself.
Scientists in Australia have developed a versatile soft robotic arm that 3D-prints cells onto organs, thereby circumventing most of the risks related to surgery. A beta version of the revolutionary tech was described last month within the journal Advanced Science.
“Our flexible 3D bioprinter means biomaterials could be directly delivered into the goal tissue or organs with a minimally invasive approach,” Dr. Thanh Nho Do, lead researcher and a biomedical engineer on the University of Recent South Wales, said Tuesday in a news release.
Dubbed F3DB, the small, flexible arm is outfitted with a swiveling nozzle that prints bio-ink — polymer-based materials used to engineer live tissue. Hydraulics allow the arm to bend and twist, while controllers adjust the stiffness using elastic tubes. Better of all, each component is operated externally.
Its maneuverability and size allows the device to be inserted like an endoscope into hard-to-reach incisions and orifices, comparable to the rectum.
“This method offers the potential for the precise reconstruction of three-dimensional wounds contained in the body, comparable to gastric wall injuries or damage and disease contained in the colon,” Do said.
Footage shows the bot being inserted right into a model rectum, whereupon it snakes its way through the intestines before allotting bio-ink onto the targeted area.
Due to this surgical precision, doctors can potentially bypass most of the dangers related to existing 3D bioprinting techniques, which “require biomaterials to be made outside the body,” Do explained. “Implanting that into an individual would normally require large open-field open surgery, which increases infection risks.”
He added that the device could also mitigate “mismatches between 3D-printed biomaterials and goal tissues/organs,” in addition to structural damage during handling and transport.
Sound like a sci-fi-inspired pipe dream? To not fear, scientists say they’ve successfully battle-tested the prototype inside a man-made colon. Additionally they 3D-printed a smorgasbord of different-shaped materials onto the surface of a pig’s kidney like a high-tech Play-Doh extruder.
3D printing isn’t F3DB’s only function. Like a surgical Swiss Army Knife, the endoscopic bot can reportedly do all the pieces from snipping cancerous lesions to cleansing blood and excess tissue from the positioning — capabilities also tested on the pig’s intestine.
As well as, the medical marvel can foster faster healing by concurrently reinforcing the region with biomaterial a la an organic Band-Aid.
“The developed F3DB was designed as an all-in-one endoscopic tool that avoids using changeable tools that are normally related to longer procedural time and infection risks,” said Mai Thanh Thai, a UNSW Ph.D. student who collaborated on the study.
Researchers are working on much more nifty features, including an integrated camera and scanner that will allow operators to print the needed tissues in real time, SWNS reports. Meanwhile, the following phase for the bot involves a dry run on live animals to find out its practical applications.
With further fine-tuning, F3DB may very well be available to medical professionals in five to seven years, in line with the researchers.
The scientists aim to revolutionize bioprinting and support the long run development of advanced endoscopic surgical robots.
And while machines are getting used to enhance human body function, the alternative is true as well. Last month, Maryland researchers unveiled a plan to reinforce a pc’s capability for memory and learning by injecting it with replicas of human brain cells.
