Univ Of Pittsburgh 3D Printing Biodegradable Metal Implants

[Brian_Krassenstein]

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

[Geoff]

needs pictures... this stuff looks cool

ingot.jpg

[Feign]

I'm guessing this also gives the body %100 of its daily dose of Iron and Manganese for... Years?

Biodegradable and Metal seem mutually exclusive, I would really like to know how the structure of it makes the metals more soluble to the body.