3D printed implant may provide relief from spinal-cord injury

3D bio-printing – fabricating a scaffold onto which living cells can grow – has undergone significant advances in recent years, going from a technique to create structures whose function derives only from their shape, such as ears, to bones and even parts of organs. Researchers from the University Minnesota have now developed a 3D-printed implant which, they believe, may be able to restore some function to patients with long-term spinal-cord injuries.

The team, led by Michael McAlpine, a mechanical engineer, and Ann Parr, from the Department of neurosurgery and Stem Cell Institute, describes in the journal Advanced Functional Materials how they 3D printed a guide made of silicone and then printed neuronal stem cells directly on top of it. The concept is that this guide would be implanted into the injured area of the spinal cord to serve as a bridge between living nerve cells above and below the area of injury. This may alleviate pain and help patients regain some functions such as control of muscles, bowel and bladder.