3D Printing and Joints

[domgro]

I'm reading about bio degradable bones and that it doesnt take too long anymore to use them in medicine.
but what about joints?
how far is the research there?
I mean joints as a whole or parts of joints which have been destroyed or injured,that will be replaced,regenereated or repaired with biodegradable materials.

sorry for my english

[awerby]

Are you sure you want to use biodegradable parts in human bodies? That doesn't seem like a great idea to me; they'd need periodic replacement. Maybe you're thinking about bio-compatible parts instead?

[domgro]

yes,they will be biodegradable.
the bone parts will be 3d printed from a special material,that is robust and will act as a scaffold.after few months the material will be replaced by the bodies own bone.
search for hala zreiquat on youtube.she explains what I mean.she talks about bones,but I'd like to know if such a method will be available in the near future for joints or parts of a joint.

[awerby]

There's talk of using a technique like that to print cartilage - or, more accurately, structures to form cartilage when implanted in the body: http://3dprinting.com/news/fast-biop...lage-implants/ But as to its being implemented for patients in the "near future" - stuff like this is always decades off, since human trials take a long time, once there's a process that works reliably in animals.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com