The prototype cells themselves.
Researchers in Australia have developed a versatile, soft robotic arm that 3D-prints cells on organs, thus bypassing most of the risks of surgery. The beta version of the revolutionary technology was featured within the journal last month Advanced science.
“Our flexible 3D bioprinter signifies that biomaterials might be directly delivered to focus on tissues or organs using a minimally invasive approach,” Dr. Thanh Nho Do, principal researcher and biomedical engineer on the University of Latest South Wales, he said in a press release on Tuesday.
The small, flexible arm, dubbed the F3DB, is provided with a rotating nozzle that prints bioink, a polymer-based material used to engineer living tissues. The hydraulics allow the arm to flex and twist, while the controllers adjust the stiffness with flexible tubes. Better of all, every component is externally operated.
Its maneuverability and size allow it to be inserted like an endoscope into hard-to-reach incisions and openings corresponding to the rectum.
![The F3D8 demonstrates its precision bioprinting capabilities.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007465946.jpg?w=1024)
“This method offers the flexibility to exactly reconstruct three-dimensional wounds contained in the body, corresponding to injuries to the stomach wall or damage and disease within the colon,” said Do.
The recording shows the bot being inserted into the model rectum, then winds its way through the intestines before dishing out the bio-ink to the goal area.
With this surgical precision, doctors can potentially bypass most of the dangers of existing 3D bioprinting techniques, which “require biomaterials to be fabricated outside the body,” explained Do. “Implanting this in a human would normally require a big open field operation, which increases the danger of infection.”
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 transportation.
![Endoscopic robot in action.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007465947.jpg?w=1024)
Sound like a sci-fi inspired pipe dream? There may be nothing to be afraid of, scientists say they’ve successfully tested the prototype in a synthetic colon. In addition they 3D printed a smorgasbord of materials of various shapes onto the surface of a pig kidney, like a high-tech Play-Doh extruder.
3D printing is just not the one function of F3DB. Like a Swiss army knife, the endoscope robot can reportedly do every thing from cutting out cancerous lesions to removing blood and excess tissue from the location – the capabilities have also been tested on a pig’s intestine.
As well as, the miracle of drugs can promote faster healing while strengthening the realm with a biomaterial like an organic plaster.
“The developed F3DB was designed as a universal endoscopic tool that avoids the usage of interchangeable instruments, which are often related to longer procedure times and risk of infection,” said Mai Thanh Thai, UNSW PhD. student who collaborated on the study.
![3D bioprinter using a gel composite.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007465948.jpg?w=1024)
Scientists are working on much more clever features, including an integrated camera and scanner, that will enable operators to print the vital tissues in real time, SWNS reports. Meanwhile, the following phase for the bot is to run a trial on live animals to find out its practical applications.
Based on the researchers, with further refinement, F3DB could possibly be available to physicians in five to seven years.
![The device's flexible nozzle head works magic.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007465949.jpg?w=1024)
Researchers aim to revolutionize bioprinting and support the longer term development of advanced endoscopic surgical robots.
And while machines are used to enhance the functions of the human body, the alternative can be true. Last month, researchers in Maryland unveiled a plan to spice up a pc’s ability to recollect and learn by injecting replicas of human brain cells into it.