Researchers turn to alginate bioink and 3D printers for breakthrough heart models.

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A cross-disciplinary team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering have just brought an ambitious what-if plan to fruition. The team has created a full-size 3D bio-printed human heart model. Yes, it is just a model but, but it realistically mimics the elasticity of cardiac tissue and could be useful for medical research. Image credits: CMU Engineering. Those behind this model at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) are Adam Feinberg and his team in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. They managed to print this artificial heart through special bioprinting with a 3D printer, using custom materials and a technique called FRESH, which stands for Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels. Their 3D printer was custom made to hold a gel support bath large enough to print at the desired size and some software changes served to maintain the speed and fidelity of the print. “FRESH 3D printing uses a needle to inject bioink into a bath of soft hydrogel,” said the school’s news story about the heart model, “which supports the object as it prints. Once finished, a simple application of […]

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