This 3D Printer Can Print Human Skin (Video)

3D printing technology is the future of medicine according to researchers at the University of Toronto. The researchers say they have developed a handheld 3D skin printer that can apply layers of skin tissue right onto wounded patients. The printer could soon represent an inexpensive alternative to a conventional skin graft.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iTQFcm9OjCA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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The researchers even say the handheld device doesn't require healthy skin to be removed from a donor and grafted on to a patient, just one of its many benefits. The printer fits in your hand and is used like a white-out tape dispenser, but instead of white-out, it prints "bio-ink" skin tissue right onto the wounded area.

The handheld printers creators say human skin may be the next canvas for 3D printing. Technology like this could be used soon in the battlefield by medics or by paramedics at emergency trauma scenes such as car accidents or domestic disputes by. Although it hasn't been tested on humans yet researchers did make a video of the printer working on a pig wound.

<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/8c186c693a3f5b402fff243e13e6ac13a84a0a6c97365259c51cdaf3513d02b1.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">University of Minnesota</span>

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Researchers at the University of Minnesota are working on a similar device of their own. Minnesota researchers designed a 3D printer that can print electronics directly onto people's skin. That is just one example of the types of prototype printers that already exist.

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Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/3d-skin-printer-university-of-toronto/