Handheld 3D Printer Could Let Doctors "Draw" New Bones - Polidicks

[img]http://s.ph-cdn.com/newman/gfx/news/2013/biopenallows.jpg[/img] [quote] A handheld 'bio pen' developed in the labs of the University of Wollongong (UOW) will allow surgeons to design customised implants on-site and at the time of surgery. The BioPen, developed by researchers from the UOW-headquartered Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), will give surgeons greater control over where the materials are deposited while also reducing the time the patient is in surgery by delivering live cells and growth factors directly to the site of injury, accelerating the regeneration of functional bone and cartilage. The BioPen works similar to 3D printing methods by delivering cell material inside a biopolymer such as alginate, a seaweed extract, protected by a second, outer layer of gel material. The two layers of gel are combined in the pen head as it is extruded onto the bone surface and the surgeon 'draws' with the ink to fill in the damaged bone section. A low powered ultra-violet light source is fixed to the device that solidifies the inks during dispensing, providing protection for the embedded cells while they are built up layer-by-layer to construct a 3D scaffold in the wound site. Once the cells are 'drawn' onto the surgery site they will multiply, become differentiated into nerve cells, muscle cells or bone cells and will eventually turn from individual cells into a thriving community of cells in the form of a functioning a tissue, such as nerves, or a muscle.[/quote] [url]http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-bio-pen-surgeons-customised-implants.html[/url]

This is literally the fucking future, guys, holy shit

If I ever have to be treated by something like a handheld 3D printer I'm going to ask the surgeon to write "Penis" on my new implant, so I will forever be known as the penis boner.

I feel like this could give way to a horror film about a Picasso of surgeons and how he removes the good bones from the victims he kidnaps and locks in his basement and transplants horribly disfigured bones that he's drawn himself into them.

3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE] Cyberprinter

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE]Molten Material Precision Extruder

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE] Dimensional Painter? Dimensional Printer Material _____ :v:

Well clearly the next step is patenting bones and charging for legal 3D prints at ludicrous prices. Actually, somebody has probably already done that.

science is cool someone make a skull throne

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [b][I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic.[/b] Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE] Dude, are you shitting me. We are in the future and you're crying about it sounding dumb? Go cry in the corner with your splints and mangled limbs.

[QUOTE=Fourm Shark;43111087]Cable TV Computers 3D Printers We arent that good at naming important things.[/QUOTE] We name things after exactly what they are. calculators calculate 3D printers print in 3D I don't see the issue there.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE] Aperture Science dimensional fabrication apparatus

[QUOTE=Xenoyia v2;43111252]Aperture Science dimensional fabrication apparatus[/QUOTE] Side effects may include: Increased risk of cancer Possible asbestos exposure Cancer from asbestos exposure Spontaneous combustion Lemon-based growths (Portal) Wormholes from your mouth to your bum. General radiation poisoning. (Operating chair is made of Uranium for testing purposes.) Yep. Don't see how that could have any side effects. (joke)

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;43110657]3D printers may be the future but the term sounds [I]idiotic[/I] and unromantic. Definitely need something better sounding[/QUOTE] With relevance to the medical applications of 3D printing... Flesh Play-Doh Machine? has a certain ring to it