3D Printing Is Going To Revolutionize Healthcare

in technology •  7 years ago  (edited)

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If you were in need of an organ transplant, would you be open to accepting one that had been 3D-printed?

3D printing technology is going to greatly transform the medical industry as we know it, along with a variety of other market spaces. It's already being used to help create personalized medical products like prosthetic limbs and organs, artificial corneas, and more.

The hope is that one day, the bioprinting market will grow to the point of having researchers be able to use 3D printing technology to create kidneys, hearts, and livers. And they suspect that it could help to greatly impact the world's organ shortage.

Organ shortages are estimated to result in the deaths of at least 20 people every single day because they can't get the organ that they need.

Along with organ transplants, there is also the effort to create 3D printed skin that might be used on things like robots or possibly come in handy to help cosmetic companies cease their testing on animals. Some suspect that it could help create a new avenue for drug testing and drug safety as well.

The ability to use the printer to create a whole organ is still in the works, though researchers suspect that it could only be a few short years away before they are able to make that become a reality.

And one of the companies that is working in this space, Organovo, has established a bioprinting process that includes using cells that come from a donated blood sample, and it has turned them into printable ink.

By doing this, the printer is able to print layers of cells in a calculated design.

According to the CEO for Organovo, Taylor Crouch, he says that what was once considered a plot for science fiction novels, is now slowly becoming reality in our world today. Though, not everyone is actively working on growing organs with 3D printers, some are interested in trying to go about doing it in another way.

Some researchers think that perhaps learning to try and regenerate an organ inside of the body, might be a better option than trying to grow one in a dish or have it printed. This, they say, is because the liver has its own regenerative properties and they think that the key is to restore the organ's own regenerative capacity instead of trying to print it somewhere else. According to Prof. Stuart Forbes, from the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, the two different approaches might need to eventually try and work together.

Eventually, this technology could be used to help save and better many lives.

Pics:
Cellink via Guardian
via Organ India

The information that is posted above is not intended to be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.

Sources:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602691/3-d-printed-kidney-parts-just-got-closer-to-reality/
https://www.ft.com/content/67e3ab88-f56f-11e7-a4c9-bbdefa4f210b
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/30/will-3d-printing-solve-the-organ-transplant-shortage
https://www.inc.com/kayla-matthews/these-3-industries-are-making-the-most-out-of-3d-printing.html

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Give a whole new relevance for the term computer virus.

never ceases to amaze the human mind, as they are taking everything to a second level, it is incredible that we can achieve organs with a 3d printer.
if place to doubts a great advance for the human health and a way to diminish the deaths to obtain the organs.
coincidentally, today in Argentina, a group of delinquents stole organs from the sick in hospitals.
thank you very much dear friend @doitvoluntarily for sharing this information
I wish you a great day

isn't it crazy? what will they think of next! thanks for stopping by jlufer!

That is a intresting subject. Next thing you know they be 3d printing an embryo. Its some real frankenstein things going on. Cloning printing. Regenarating. Thanks for sharing this info.

hah! wouldn't that be something!

The future is here!!! Cryptos, 3D organs... what a great time to be alive 😊

and underground houses

you can say that again !:)

I remember thinking about what else this technology could be used for the first time I read about it. Things more useful than whistles and mini Raj and Howards (Big Bang Theory).

New limbs was the first thing to cross my mind.

The technology has come a long way. It’s great this could be used eventually to make real deal organs, and other malice saving medical objects.

Our future certainly looks exciting from every perspective.

Recently I made a little dialogue in which I discussed the possible implications of bionic parts for our bodies in the future.

3D printing is certainly a step in the right direction, and I cannot wait to see a proper market of good 3D printed organs. Every person who is addicted to smoking for example, could suddenly get new and healthy lungs without the need to wait for another person to die and donate his/her lungs.

The future is coming faster than we realize and it is better than science fiction :D.

Cheers!

I had never heard of such a thing... it's incredible. What a world we will have in a few years... if we survive!

What r you saying man, can this would be possible. I still can't believe it. With the help of 3D printing technology one day we can create kidneys, hearts, and livers.

Technology is doing better and better things , and this is going to be a crazy advancement and also how 3D printers can create figures itself is amazing

3D is great invention in the world....day by day technology up to now...so 3d printing is nice technology in modern age......
edgar-mueller-street-art-5.jpg

Today, although they can not produce a single artificial organ, they create 3D topographic map of the region to be operated with the help of EMARs, which are taken by physicians at the beginning of the operation, and they can be printed with the help of 3D printers by making them concrete objects. see what they will encounter during the operation and make the road map more comfortable, that is, they have been rehabilitating a kind operation. As can be guessed, having such a practice before the operation has a great effect on the success of the operation. In the same way, the part to be exposed to maxilofacial operation can be scanned and formed in 3D shape. Surgeons can determine how to trace a path map by performing a preliminary study on the solid model of the corresponding region in the hand.

It often amazes me how advanced we have become. I have heard recently of being able to grow baby teeth in adults too. WOW. I would gladly upvote but my power is trashed. I was scammed Friday of 663.843 SBD. Thought I was on steemit and was sent to steewit. Damn. I blogged on it last night in my posts. Well again enjoyed your post - Troy

Hola amiga excelente publicacion muy interesante, siempre te leo cuentas con mi voto, saludos

very good publication excellent content friend I like, I hope you can visit my blog maybe you like something friend, good night.

I sometimes wonder how are we going to do to manage the humanity overpopulation? since Science is progressing as fast as lightning and creating new methods to make the average age higher. This is actually a great discovery, I wouldn't doubt to pay for something like this to save my beloved. I just hope population stops decreasing, otherwise increasing the population will result in a cancer for the world.

Si bien es cierto que son muchas las personas que van en contra de este tipo de avances tecnológicos, sobre todo por creencias religiosas; también debemos reconocer que estamos creando oportunidades de vida para el ser humano. Mi padre murió a consecuencia de un problema de riñón y porque nunca se pudo hacer un trasplante porque no había donador idóneo para él. ¿Cuántas vidas se salvarían si se hacen más progresos de este tipo? Si es para nuestro bien, bienvenidos sean todos esos avances y gracias a ti por compartir.

nice information sir @doitvoluntarily, its will give us more benefet when read this article...
thank you

Drinking clean water is safe, and benefits for health

I might print me out a new brain, hehe.

3D printer technology is getting a new place every day in human life. When we look at the development of this technology up to now, 3D printer technology has produced primarily daily necessities, with the creation of glasses, shoes, telephone boxes, textiles, architectural models, man-made cage structures that are extremely interested in material science, and now it continues to progress as a breakthrough technology in the sense of human health for the future with researches such as artificial organ printing experiments in the health sector, completion of missing bone parts and construction of a private prosthesis.

*Most of the internet:
Yeah but can it print a gun?!"