Thanks to researchers at Duke University and Harvard Medical School, it may soon be feasible to perform medical surgeries without having to tear the skin open. They demonstrated a 3D printer that uses ultrasound to manufacture biomaterials inside an organ in a new proof of concept published Thursday (Dec 7) in Science. Junjie Yao, a bioengineer at Duke University, and Yu Shrike Zhang, his co-primary investigator, are the researchers behind the groundbreaking technique.
Many 3D printing technologies utilise light to solidify ink into structures, often requiring printing on surfaces. This poses challenges for creating minimally invasive structures, as surgery is typically necessary for implantation. “That’s really the limit of current bioprinting technology,” said Yao. So, the researchers came up with the idea to make a printer that uses ultrasound waves which travel deeper through opaque materials.
The printer employs a concentrated ultrasonic transducer to transform electrical energy into sound waves
“So we are developing this ultrasound printer, which uses ultrasound waves to convert the sono-ink developed by Shirke’s lab into three-dimensional structures actually inside the tissue without the need to print it out, then implant it into the tissue,” Yao was quoted as saying by STAT News.
The printer, invented by Yao and his team, employs a concentrated ultrasonic transducer to transform electrical energy into sound waves, enabling the construction of complicated structures layer by layer within tissues. The researchers successfully printed a bone-shaped structure through pig skin and muscle, simulated bone restoration, treated atrial fibrillation using an ex vivo heart patch, and delivered chemotherapy via a 14-millimetre-thick pig liver.
“I think what was pretty innovative was the use of ultrasound to do this kind of gelling of materials so deep into the [organ] with a non-invasive technology like ultrasound, which really has minimal side effects,” Adam Feinberg, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University with expertise in biomedical engineering and material science, was quoted as saying by STAT. Feinberg, who did not participate in the study, described the research as a “unique” application of technology.