DooKey
[H]F Junkie
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- Apr 25, 2001
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Believe it or not, over 15M people a year need cornea transplant - only 44,000 are completed due to lack of supply. Because of this, the scientists from Newcastle University have developed a way to 3D print corneas using a new "bio-ink" technique. They can build a new cornea with the printer in less than ten minutes. They scan the patient's eye and the new cornea should be the exact size and shape of the cornea it will replace. This bodes well for the future of 3D printed body parts. Check out the video of a cornea printing.
Watch the video here.
Once printed, the team let the stem cells grow around the scaffolding provided by the alginate and collagen gel (the stem cells are what actually become the cornea once they mature; the other parts of the ink just support the stem cells). 83 percent of the keratocytes (a specific type of cornea cell) were still alive a week after printing — a promising result that indicates that the cells could, in fact, replace human corneas.
Watch the video here.
Once printed, the team let the stem cells grow around the scaffolding provided by the alginate and collagen gel (the stem cells are what actually become the cornea once they mature; the other parts of the ink just support the stem cells). 83 percent of the keratocytes (a specific type of cornea cell) were still alive a week after printing — a promising result that indicates that the cells could, in fact, replace human corneas.