Home computer printers gave people the ability to produce bank statements, concert tickets, holiday cards and party invitations at the touch of a button.

But what if you wanted to “print out” a dinner plate, the leg [...]]]> Plastic extrusion machines that can make 3-D objects will be commonplace in homes one day, people in the field believe.

Home computer printers gave people the ability to produce bank statements, concert tickets, holiday cards and party invitations at the touch of a button.

But what if you wanted to “print out” a dinner plate, the leg of an armchair or an eyeglass frame? It may sound far-fetched and futuristic, but plastic extrusion machines that can do this — popularly known as 3-D printers — are poised to enter the home electronics market.

“Tonight Show” host Jay Leno has an industrial version in the warehouse-sized Burbank garage that houses his collection of more than 200 cars and motorcycles. His mechanics design hard-to-find parts on a laptop computer and then use the machine to make them real.

Via: latimes.com

Regular 3D printers use plastic that is built up [...]]]> A company called Invetech has created what looks to be a human tissue printer that works in a similar way to how 3D printers work. The system is capable of building up human organs cell by cell to create scaffolds that liver cells could be placed on.

Regular 3D printers use plastic that is built up layer by layer over the course of the printing session to create unique 3D objects. The new system replaces this “3D ink” with living cells so that Dr’s can print human tissue on demand.

“Scientists and engineers can use the 3D bio printers to enable placing cells of almost any type into a desired pattern in 3D,” Murphy said. “Researchers can place liver cells on a preformed scaffold, support kidney cells with a co-printed scaffold, or form adjacent layers of epithelial and stromal soft tissue that grow into a mature tooth. Ultimately the idea would be for surgeons to have tissue on demand for various uses, and the best way to do that is get a number of bio-printers into the hands of researchers and give them the ability to make three dimensional tissues on demand.”

An interesting point to make here is that the model is a production model and already delivered to a company called Organovo who in turn will supply the machines to researchers investigating human tissue repair and organ replacement.

The 3D bio-printers include an intuitive software interface that allows engineers to build a model of the tissue construct before the printer commences the physical constructions of the organs cell-by-cell using automated, laser-calibrated print heads.

“Building human organs cell-by-cell was considered science fiction not that long ago,” said Fred Davis, president of Invetech, which has offices in San Diego and Melbourne. “Through this clever combination of technology and science we have helped Organovo develop an instrument that will improve people’s lives, making the regenerative medicine that Organovo provides accessible to people around the world.”

Via: livescience.com