3D – Printing New Body Parts Treat Athletes’ Injuries

There are athletes who love their career very much, but they cannot continue because of unwanted injuries. Scientists have now invented models based on 3D printing technology, helping to heal athletes' wounds, knees, and ankles.

Sean Bittner from Rice University said the study would help people continue their passion after having suffered from regular injuries in sports. And if this research is effective, it will be more applicable in other areas, not just sports.

Researches’ efforts and practices in reconstructing and transplanting bone and joint tissue by Sean Bittner and many other scientists from UMD (University of Maryland) and Rice University have been published in Acta Biomaterialia.

Scientists often have difficulty reproducing the tissue located below the long bone. It changes from cartilage to bone, so its consistency is not fixed. That makes them more difficult to be imitated in the laboratory. Thanks to the new development of scientists at UMD and Rice, bone tissue scaffolding has been able to replicate by a human. They used ceramics for bone and polymer blends for the cartilage and assembled individual 3D prints, instead of printing the entire tissue.

The pores are also inserted into their scaffolding so that patients' blood vessels and cells can be easily cỉculated. When inserting this scaffold implant into the patient's body, it will work seamlessly with natural biology and help heal the injuries in their cartilage and bone.

Later, researchers will study and design how to print the implant so that it is fully compatible with the specific recipient's body.

It can be said that athletes will be more likely to use this implant because of common injuries that occur in their daily work. But any of us are likely to suffer from joint and bone injuries, regardless of what we do. Therefore, if this research is effective, everyone will benefit.