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Building Bones

Researchers use 3D printing for facial reconstruction surgery.

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By DE Editors  

August 22, 2007

By DE Editors

According to Japanese blog Pink Tentacle, 3D inkjet printers are building artificial bones in work done by researchers in the Tissue Engineering Department at the University of Tokyo Hospital. The tailor-made bones are used in facial reconstruction surgery.
 
Japanese researchers use 3D printers to make artificial bones for facial reconstruction.
Researchers first use a patient’s X-ray and CT scan data to build a 3D model of the bone. The model is then sliced into cross-sections, and each layer is printed. The 3D printer prints a water-based polymer adhesive onto thin layers of powdered alpha-tricalcium phosphate. The adhesive hardens the alpha-tricalcium phosphate, producing an artificial bone to an accuracy of one millimeter.

These artificial bones are not considered strong enough to replace weight-bearing bones, but they are ten times stronger than conventional artificial bones made from hydroxylapatite, a naturally occurring mineral that is also the main component of natural bone.

Researchers hope to make the technology commercially available by 2010.
 

Sources: Pink Tentacle.

 

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