Would you believe me, if I tell you I can give you a nose or a liver by just pressing a button? Well certainly not but, in this age of technology which we are living in, every wild imagination of yours has the potential to become the next reality. So basically we are going to talk in brief about one such amazing futuristic technology called, 3D printing. Although 3D printing is relatively a new technology but the impact it has delivered in such a short span of time is huge. It is currently being used in wide range of applications like manufacturing, food, medicine, arts, construction etc. and to name a few.

Looking at the potential, scientist are now even exploring ways to use 3D printing technology for developing artificial organs and body parts. Now a straight forward question that may arise in your mind is that how is that even possible to build something that complicated an artificial organ which can replace our body parts and that too by just printing.

                    Well a group of scientist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre has developed a technique which is being used to develop 3-D prints of human tissue perforated with micro channels, rather like a sponge, to better flow of micro-nutrients. This significantly helps in faster development of tissue or organ.

                    Called bio printers, these techniques use human cells as ‘ink’ and a hydrogel which makes a porous framework. The framework is filled with human cells and tissue, which grow and fill in the organ to be made. The hydrogel will biodegrade living behind a structure eventually going to be a body part filled with human cells and tissue.

                    That's a very good question as 3D printing is a new technology and 3D printed organs and body parts are kinda say experimental stuff if we compare it traditional medical procedures like organ transplant. But here is the catch, organ transplant procedure is costly plus you will have to depend on drugs for lifetime to suppress your immune system so that your body doesn't reject the alien organ. So as say, finding a matching donor is a problem and even if a donor is found there is a very high probability of organ rejection. This is where 3D printing can play a key role. It can be used to print organs compatible with the donor immune system which would solve the problem of rejection in transplant and would also dramatically reduce the cost of transplant in future, thus making it more accessible to patients.

Bionic eye

Heart valve

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Spine

🔹 Ears

🔹 Liver

🔹 Blood vessels

                    Still producing promising organs for mankind is way off. As of now we can hope that in future we will able to see fully functioning body parts with 3D printing technology. But one thing is sure if the technology could take off that it will bring in a revolution is customized healthcare facilities.

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