Video: Scientists Produce Human Tissue-Like Material Using 3D Printing | Surprising Science
Several 3D-printed droplet networks. Image courtesy of Gabriel Villar, Alexander D. Graham and Hagan Bayley (University of Oxford)
[...] a new study suggests 3D-printed material could one day mimic the behavior of cells in human tissue. Graduate student Gabriel Villar and his colleagues at the University of Oxford developed tiny solids that behave as biological tissue would. The delicate material physically resembles brain and fat tissue, and has the consistency of soft rubber.
A Tissue-Like Printed Material
Abstract
[...] We printed tens of thousands of picoliter aqueous droplets that become joined by single lipid bilayers to form a cohesive material with cooperating compartments. Three-dimensional structures can be built with heterologous droplets in software-defined arrangements. The droplet networks can be functionalized with membrane proteins; for example, to allow rapid electrical communication along a specific path. The networks can also be programmed by osmolarity gradients to fold into otherwise unattainable designed structures. Printed droplet networks might be interfaced with tissues, used as tissue engineering substrates, or developed as mimics of living tissue.
Source: A Tissue-Like Printed Material