New Ultrasound Process Could Enable In-Body 3D Printing

Could you imagine a world where it would be possible to 3D print organs or tissues directly inside your body? Although this might sound like the most outlandish science fiction, researchers at Duke University and Harvard Medical School may have made it possible. They have developed a new 3D printing process using focused ultrasound and a bio-compatible ink, which together could be used for everything from bone healing to heart valve repair. The hope is that this will lead the way to safer and less invasive surgical procedures.

Though we have long extolled the benefits of additive manufacturing in the medical sector, including the growing bioprinting field, there are still obstacles, especially when it comes to printing in the body. This is because many of the current processes use either extrusion or photopolymerization, neither of which are well-suited to through-tissue 3D printing.

This technique used ultrasound-sensitive ink to build 3D structures at various depths, including through tissues in the human body

With extrusion, the reason it cannot be done inside the body is obvious, how would you put the apparatus in the body and if you need to cut open anyway why not make it externally? However, in-body 3D printing is also not possible with the various photopolymerization methods being developed. Why? Well, very simply, light is not able to travel through skin and organs as it scatters while passing through them. This is also the case for volumetric printing, which is what this latest 3D printing technology is based upon, and which uses photopolymerization and transparent inks.