Univ Of Pittsburgh 3D Printing Biodegradable Metal Implants
University of Pittsburgh researchers in Engineering and Regenerative Medicine have developed a method for 3D-printing microscopic structures that facilitate bone and tissue reconstruction. The 3D-printed scaffold enlists an iron and manganese alloy embedded with pre-osteoblasts, the precursors to the bone-synthesizing cells called “osteoblasts,” to create a structure that is placed over the areas in need of repair, thus replacing previous, invasive methods like bone grafting. As the regenerative process takes place, the alloy, which is deliberately created to degrade, breaks down so that nothing remains aside from the repaired bone or tissue. More details on this story can be found here: http://3dprint.com/18150/3d-printed-bone-scaffold
