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Related: About this forum3D-printed bone-replacement gel contains live bone cells
By Ben Coxworth
January 25, 2021
Presently, if a patient is missing a section of bone due to accident or disease, it has to be replaced with bone harvested from elsewhere in their body. A new cell-containing gel, however, could one day be 3D printed right into the injury, where it would then harden.
First of all, there are already a variety of experimental materials that can be placed in a cavity where bone is missing. These serve as a sort of three-dimensional micro-structured scaffolding, which cells from the adjacent bone tissue gradually migrate into. Those cells proceed to reproduce, until they eventually replace the material with actual bone.
Seeking a faster alternative, scientists at Australia's University of New South Wales-Sydney have created a calcium phosphate-based "bio-ink" gel that already contains the patient's own live bone cells. In a technique known as ceramic omnidirectional bioprinting in cell-suspensions (COBICS), that non-toxic gel is 3D-printed directly into the patient's bone deficit. It proceeds to harden within minutes of exposure to their bodily fluids forming into a bone-like material consisting of mechanically interlocked bone mineral nanocrystals.
The cells within the now-solid material could then go on to reproduce, ultimately replacing it with natural living bone. Animal testing is now being planned, to see if this does indeed happen.
More:
https://newatlas.com/medical/bone-replacement-gel-contains-live-cells/
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3D-printed bone-replacement gel contains live bone cells (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Jan 2021
OP
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)1. That's incredible.
The applications could be huge.
Enterstageleft
(3,396 posts)2. Wow!
fierywoman
(7,686 posts)3. I wonder if it could be a way to re-grow teeth ...
Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)
Freelancer This message was self-deleted by its author.