Bioprinting involves using specially developed 3D bioprinters that work similarly to other 3D printers: getting a result after producing a layer after another, based on a 3D model. The devices are loaded with spheroids — cell conglomerates that are placed on a special substrate, the bio paper. After printing one layer of cell spheroids, the second one is put right over it, so the layers will merge. This is how a living tissue or an organ will be grown. 3D printing has a huge potential in medicine. These technologies can be used for reproducing highly accurate 3D models of human organs, as well as some implants. The developers of the technologies like these are aiming for printing organs in real time.
Sandvik Coromant Employees Use 3D Printing to Help Medical Workers
On May 14th of 2020, it became known that the employees of Sandvik Coromant use 3D printing to help medical workers.
Amid the pandemic, medical workers had to wear protective respirators for over 12 hours a day without time to take a break from wearing gear and recover. The result was getting painful hematomas around the nose area and behind the ears. Over the last year, enthusiasts from all around the world have offered solutions for improving wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to improve the comfort (if only marginally) of medical workers that save lives. For example, Wally Calayag, an engineer at Sandvik Coromant, prints up to 20 special extension bands a day on his desktop 3D printer.
Wally Calayag knows how painful wearing a protective mask can be – his wife works around a clock at a medical facility. He decided to help her and other workers and started 3D printing multi-use mask extension bands. They mount at the back of a head and allow for adjusting the size of PPE, relieving the stress placed on the bridge of the nose and the ears. What’s also important is that it’s easy to disinfect such extenders and they don’t require any special certification which otherwise would take months to complete.
The extenders can be easily printed even on the simplest 3D printers, and there are various open-source files available online that can set up the device. Wally uses plastic filaments. His 3D printer produces 3 bands in 2.5 hours. He has already manufactured over 300 extenders. In May 2020, all of them were donated to the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California, USA, while Wally was working on producing 1000 more.
This action motivated other employees of Sandvik Coromant to use additive technologies to help medical workers. His colleague, Kim Ohayon also set up his 3D printer to produce the extenders, and it now provides 12 of them every 5 hours. 200 extension bands made on his 3D printer will also be sent to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where the wife of Wally works.
| We are proud and support initiatives like these from our employees, since during May of 2020 any contribution is important, even the ones that aren’t significant at first sight. And even though the 3D extenders will not slow down the pandemic, they will make the work of medical professionals more comfortable at the very least. Moreover, this example shows that the technologies that only a few years ago seemed like science fiction and were developed by large industrial facilities and serious medical organizations, are now becoming available to everyone. Vadim Nedilko, general director of LLC Sandvik |
Not only does the company support the initiatives of their workers, but it is also actively involved in providing medical facilities in Sweden and other companies with required protective equipment. For example, there’s a voluntary collection of personal protective equipment (such as gloves, clothes and face masks) at the production site in Västberga, Stockholm, Sweden. The factory is planning to donate it to Swedish Healthcare, as well as face shields that the company produces at their additive manufacturing centers. Sandvik Coromant developed 3D modeling technology that allows it to 3D print face shields 200 times faster than other techniques available in May of 2020. The solution can increase the efficiency of 3D printing, which in turn will make it possible to produce protective masks for healthcare workers at a faster rate. The information about the technology is publicly available online.
Moreover, Sandvik Coromant donated 1 998 protective suits to the hospital in Wuhan, the initial epicenter of the pandemic. They also donated 1000 sets of protective equipment to Sassoon Hospital in Pune, India – a COVID-19 isolation medical facility.
HP Inc. Started 3D Printing Medical Equipment for Fighting Coronavirus
At the end of March of 2020, HP Inc. and its partners started using 3D printers for producing medical equipment required for fighting COVID-19. Moreover, the companies are planning to make publicly available draws for parts that aren’t difficult to assemble.
According to HP, the company prioritizes parts used in face masks and respirators, as well as devices such as those that allow opening the doors without using the hands. According to the company, the hospitals already received more than 1000 parts.
HP Inc. and its partners started using 3D printers for producing medical equipment required for fighting COVID-19
HP general director Enrique Lores has said in a press release that HP and their partners in 3D printing are working without pause to stop this pandemic.
| We are looking for partners from other countries and in other industries to define the most needed parts, approve the design and start 3D printing, — said Lores. |
First printed parts include the devices that allow one to open the doors using an ankle, a mask adjuster that is comfortable to be worn for a long time, as well as the mounts to conveniently keep a face mask in place. According to HP, other parts are undergoing testing and certification and “are expected to go into production soon”. They include the parts for a home ventilator — a mechanical respirator with a valve that can be used for short-term ventilation, as well as the FFP3 mask parts.
HP announced that they involved four 3D research centers to work with partners from all around the world “to coordinate the abilities and increase production to solve the most pressing needs”. HP also works with government entities and healthcare facilities to supply medical products.
A Human Heart was 3D Printed for the First Time Using Human Cells
On April 15th of 2019, the researchers from Tel Aviv University reported that they managed to successfully 3D print a heart, using human cells. No one has done this before.
For printing the organ, the scientists took fat tissue from a human. After that, it was split into cellular and non-cellular components. Then the cells were ‘reprogrammed’ to become stem cells, which in turn became cardiac cells. Non-cellular components were turned into gel that acted as bioink for printing.
The tiny heart created by Israeli researchers could function in a body of a rabbit even at this stage.
As is the case with a regular heart, the artificial one consisted of all of the blood vessels, collagen for growing connective tissue, and various biological molecules.
The size of the heart is around 2 centimeters — comparable to the size of a rabbit heart. It took the printer 3.5 hours to produce the heart.
The future plans of the researchers are focused on the biological properties of this heart. They want to make it beat like a normal human heart. At the time of this scientific breakthrough, the heart could only contract.
According to the researchers, the cells need to work together and function as a pump. In case of success, the scientists want to test a printed model on animals.
| Maybe in 10 years the best hospitals in the world will get organ 3D printers and the procedures will be happening on a regular basis, — said Tal Dvir, a professor of the School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology of Tel Aviv University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology |
Even at this stage, the heart could theoretically function inside a body of a rabbit.
The Hospitals save Tens of Thousand Dollars with the Help of 3D Printing
In March of 2018, the North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) opened a laboratory for 3D printing with the aim to help oral and maxillofacial surgeons to treat and rehabilitate patients with neck and head cancer, facial injury, or birth defects. The 3D lab was founded by a reconstruction scientist Oliver Burley who rationalized the economical advantages of having a 3D laboratory, as well as raised money for the laboratory itself, software, and a PolyJet 3D printer (that costs $42,000). The staff of the laboratory currently consists of three experts that work with nine oral-maxillofacial surgery consultants.
After obtaining a master’s degree in reconstructive science, Burley demonstrated a business case of the 3D lab to the management of the hospital. The first argument for building a lab was saving money since the hospital spent $166,000 annually to outsource 3D printing projects. On average, there are 20 cancer cases and 8-10 facial injury cases on the annual basis. so the analysis proved that maintaining the hospital’s 3D lab will be cheaper. Although licensing the lab will cost money, the fee is fixed and doesn’t depend on the amount of work. The second argument was saving surgeons time since they would be able to use 3D models to plan surgeries. Finally, the last argument was reducing the time for getting 3D models.
3D printing emerged thanks to Charles Hull’s discovery in 1983, and slowly spread over all of the manufacturing fields.
Materialize Mimics Innovation Suite was chosen as 3D modeling software, while ProPlan CMF was used for generating models for reconstructions and cranial osteotomies. Burley notes that 3D models are used by the hospital for nearly every case of neck and head cancer, he’s sure that in five years 3D labs will become a required addition for oncological centers.
The 3D lab mostly works with neck and head cancer patients, they require reconstructive surgeries, including those that involve bone transplants for lower and upper jaw reconstruction. The patient’s head is scanned, after which a 3D model is created. Surgeons and lab workers can research various kinds of reconstructive surgeries and devices in VR before starting to plan. Developed prostheses, implants, rods, and plates are 3D printed using metal or plastic. The final stage involves sterilizing a model and giving it to the surgeons. Thanks to a wide range of tools, the lab performs other tasks and is used by orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and rheumatologists.