Australian biomedical engineers have created a tiny, flexible robot that can 3D print biomaterials within the body to streamline future medical operations.
3D bioprinting uses living cells and other natural tissues as “bio-ink” to heal damaged organs, tissues, or blood vessels.
Printing uses living cells to fuse these artificial structures into the body and grow.
Biomaterials must be created outside the body before being inserted into the body via invasive surgery, which can cause blood loss, infections, and other issues.
Thanh Nho Do, team leader, said the F3DB device would print directly inside the body, eliminating those complications and risks.
He told Reuters that no commercial technology could directly 3D print within the human body.
Hydraulics on a soft robotic arm bend and twist F3DB’s three-axis printing head. The nozzle can print pre-programmed shapes or manually print complex or undetermined shapes.
The smallest prototype is 11-13 mm, equivalent to a commercial endoscope, but it might be scaled further smaller.
“Soft robots (are) really good for functioning with the human body,” said University of New South Wales Medical Robotics Lab director Do.
“They’re versatile. They suit any bodily part.”
After clinical testing, Do expects the gadget to be commercialized in five to seven years.
