Direct Sound 3D Printing Could Print Implants Inside Your Body

Concordia University researchers developed a new platform technology that uses ultrasonic waves to create complex and precise objects. The researchers have succeeded in using sound to solidify liquid into plastic. This so-called direct sound 3D printing could make it possible in the future to create implants directly in the body.

In Direct Sound Printing (DSP), ultra-high frequency sound waves are concentrated for only a trillionth of a second on a spot of liquid resin. This brief but powerful concentration causes the formation of a tiny bubble, which in turn has enough energy to trigger a chemical reaction that solidifies the resin. Most 3D printing methods currently in use are based on either photo (light) or thermal (heat) activated reactions, which then achieve precise manipulation of polymers. This newly developed direct sound 3D printing method could therefore provide a third option for creating new objects. Professor Muthukumaran Packirisamy, corresponding author of the research report, commented:

“Ultrasonic frequencies are already being used in destructive procedures like laser ablation. We wanted to use them to create something”

What is Direct Sound 3D Printing?

DSP is based on chemical reactions created by pressure fluctuations in tiny bubbles suspended in a liquid polymer solution. The researchers found that by using a specific type of ultrasound at a specific frequency and power, they could create very localized, highly focused chemically reactive regions. The reactions caused by ultrasound wave-driven oscillations in the micro-sized vesicles are intense, even though they last only picoseconds. There, the temperatures reach a pressure that is about 1,000 times the air pressure at sea level and about 15000 degrees Celsius. The reaction time here is so short that the surrounding material is not affected by the high temperatures thus caused.