New Vein (Literally) of Printing Developed at Mizzou
Date: March 23, 2010
Columbia, MO -- According to the blog Slashgear, researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO, have successfully used a 3-D printer to print a human vein. For this project they used the NovoGen printer which is manufactured by a San Diego-based company, Organovo.
So how does it work? Utilizing cells from a single part of the body, it is combined with a substance called “ ‘bio ink’ ” which serves as a means to keep the cells together. After that, a powerful computer which is connected to the printer maps out the image for the printer. Then, the printer will output successive layers of 2-D images until the 3-D product is created.
This is just a baby step in this type of biomedical engineering however. The ability to create whole organs is still a ways away. If nothing else, the successful creation of a vein does provide a means for hope for proponents of this type of genetic technology.
