Although it can be difficult to get heart muscle cells to propagate in large numbers, a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has found a way to use 3D printing and light-induced excitation to create a living heart pump that has broad implications in medicine.
.
Historically, scientists have attempted to 3D print cardiomyocytes, heart muscle cells from stem cells, but could never reproduce them in sufficient numbers to establish their functionality. The Minnesota team tried a new approach, using an ink mixture made of proteins and combining it with human stem cells projected into a chamber structure.
.
According to the researchers’ published study, they created a photo-crosslinkable formulation of extracellular matrix proteins and used this “ink” to print human pluripotent stem cell structures, with two chambers and a vessel inlet and outlet. The researchers discovered that the muscles began to spontaneously beat […]
Case Study: How PepsiCo achieved 96% cost savings on tooling with 3D Printing Technology
Above: PepsiCo food, snack, and beverage product line-up/Source: PepsiCo PepsiCo turned to tooling with 3D printing...
0 Comments