Bone building

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Doctors at New York University are testing out a 3D bone tissue scaffold printer that could reduce the time it takes bones in the body to regenerate.

Doctors at the College of Dentistry at New York University are testing out a 3D bone tissue scaffold printer that could substantially reduce the time it takes bones in the body to regenerate.

Bone generated from the scaffolds could be used to shore up alveolar (jaw) bone to support dental implants, as well as to repair cleft palates, fill in missing pieces of skull and repair other large and small defects.

The printer, known as a robotic deposition, or Robocaster, converts 3D information from CT scans into custom 3D printed tissue scaffolds with an unprecedented level of precision.

Because the structural elements of the scaffolds are similar in size to ingrowing bone structure (around 200µm), the bone is expected to grow faster and more accurately than bone generated from other types of tissue scaffolds.

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