Researchers use 3D printer, sugar, to create a fake artery network for lab-grown tissue

Printing a chocolate heart is easy enough, but how about an actual organ? There are folks working on it, but it turns out those veins of yours aren't exactly a breeze to replicate. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT may have found a semi-sweet solution -- dissolving a sugar lattice in a batch of living Jell-O. The research team uses a RepRap 3D printer and a custom extruder head to print a filament network composed of sucrose, glucose and dextran which is later encased in a bio-gel containing living cells. Once the confectionery paths are dissolved, they leave a network of artery-like channels in their void. Tissue living in the gel can then receive oxygen and nutrients through the hollow pipes.

The research has been promising so far, and has increased the number of functional liver cells the team has been able to maintain in artificial tissues. These results suggest the technique could have future research possibilities in developing lab-grown organs. MIT Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, who helped conduct the effort, hopes to push the group's work further. "More work will be needed to learn how to directly connect these types of vascular networks to natural blood vessels while at the same time investigating fundamental interactions between the liver cells and the patterned vasculature. It's an exciting future ahead." Scientists at other labs could also get their mitts on the sweet templates since they're stable enough to endure shipping. Head past the break for a video of the innard infrastructure.

Comments

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Kurumsal Dijitalleşme mi yoksa Dijital Kurumsallaşma mı? (+Anket)

Eğer benim gibi siz de işinizin önemli bir bölümünü pazar araştırması yaparak geçiriyorsanız muhtemelen siz de en az benim kadar Türkiye'de pazar verisine ulaşmanın ne kadar zor olduğu hakkında defalarca şikayet etmiş ve sonunda yaratıcı yollar keşfetme yolunu tercih etmişsinizdir. Bunun sebebinin analitik düşünceye ihtiyacımızın olmaması mı, tembellik mi, kısa vadeli düşünmemiz mi yoksa insanüstü tahmin ve öngörü yeteneklerine sahip olmamız mı emin değilim. "Y ou can’t manage what you can’t measure " - "Ö lçemedeğiniz şeyi yönetemezsiniz " Her ne kadar bu söz, günümüze yanlış bir şekilde aktarılmış olsa da, kendi içerisinde kısmi bir doğruluk barındırmakta. Aslında bu söz ile anlatılmak istenen, ölçerek herşeyin yönetilemeyeceği fakat sonuçları iyileştirmek için süreçlerin ölçülmesi ve takip edilmesinin önemli olduğudur. Sözün asıl sahibi W. Edward Deming, verinin ve gözlemin önemini aşağıdaki sözüyle çok güzel bir şekilde anlatmaktadır....

A Creative Way to Meet Investors - UberX

Have a cool startup idea, and want to get it funded? You could go the traditional route, blindly sending your pitch deck to every VC in Silicon Valley. Or you could follow investors on Twitter, hoping that through casual badinage you can win the hearts (and eventually, the wallets) of your startup's money source. Or maybe, just maybe, you should drive for Uber. UberX Lowers The Bar Yes, Uber, the popular mobile app that connects drivers with people who need a lift. Founded in 2009 as UberCab, Uber has become the go-to app for hailing a sedan in markets like San Francisco, New York City and London. And while historically Uber operators have been commercial sedan drivers filling time between jobs their employer provides them, Uber's introduction of UberX in July 2012 has opened the service to cars and drivers of all kinds. This means that not only will you be picked up in a Toyota Prius or Volkswagen Jetta instead of a Lincoln Town Car, but you're also going...

Infotrade

Search This Blog