Researchers from MIT have developed a 3D-printable tissue adhesive that demonstrates superior tissue adhesion, rapid sealing capabilities across various surgical scenarios and a unique blood-repelling feature. The technology holds immense potential for revolutionizing wound care and biomedical device applications.
The research has been published in Nature Communications.
Tissue adhesives provide alternatives to traditional wound closure methods like sutures and staples, offering advantages such as reduced tissue trauma, quicker application, and potentially minimized scarring.
Despite the effectiveness of traditional adhesives, their time-consuming, skill-dependent application and patient discomfort have prompted the quest for innovative solutions.
For instance, they might be less effective in sealing irregularly shaped or highly mobile tissues. Moreover, the application of traditional adhesives can be labor intensive, leading to extended surgical times. Additionally, these methods may cause tissue damage, and the materials themselves might not always integrate seamlessly with the body.
Innovations in tissue adhesives aim to overcome these drawbacks by providing more versatile, efficient, and patient-friendly solutions. The development of 3D printable tissue adhesives, as showcased in the MIT research, introduces a new dimension to wound closure and tissue repair.
In a world first, researchers have printed multi-layered, living skin directly onto significant injuries in rats for scar-free skin repair. It's not sci-fi – they're genuinely 3D-printing skin (and possibly hair) right into damaged areas.
The skin of the head and face is vital to protecting the structures underlying it. It’s also integral to our identity. Full-thickness skin damage caused by traumatic injury to or extensive surgery on the face or head – to remove a cancerous tumor, say – can negatively impact a person’s confidence and self-esteem.
Despite advances in plastic and reconstructive surgery, repairing full-thickness skin loss on the head and face using skin grafts is challenging. It can result in scarring, permanent hair loss, and graft failure. But now, researchers from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have become the first to 3D print full-thickness, living skin with hair-growing potential during surgery on rats, immediately correcting a significant skin deficit on the animals’ heads.
Transplant Patient Receives World's First 3D Printed Windpipe
The new trachea was created partially from stem cells.
By Adrianna Nine March 18, 2024
A woman in South Korea made history as the first person to receive a "new" windpipe 3D printed from stem cells. Now that the transplant appears to have been a success, her experience could pave the way for other patients who have lost parts of their tracheas to cancer or trauma.
Researchers at Gachon University and the Catholic University of Korea have spent the last two decades experimenting with 3D printed partial organ replacements using stem cells, according to BBC Science Focus. In recent years, the team has partnered with T&R Biofab, a Korean biomedical engineering firm, to combine their research with 3D printing technology suitable for medical use. The resulting 3D bioprinter infuses donor nasal epithelial cells and ear cartilage cells with bioink and polycaprolactone (PCL), a synthetic polycaprolactone stabilizer, to create solid yet flexible transplant organs.
