Have you ever given a thought to the days when the artificial creation of human organs like skin, tissues and other essential elements? Possibly, it would have seemed to be a scene from a science fiction movie just a couple of years ago. But, as the power of technology would stand proof to it, the concept has indeed been realised and here. This has opened new windows for the treatments and indeed brought down the cost associated. That is exactly the result of what we call Bioprinting.

What is Bio Printing?

Before we can understand what is Bioprinting, it would be a good idea to understand the concept that makes this possible. Yes, we are talking about 3D Printing.

In fact, in sharp contrast to the two-dimensional printing that we have known for long, 3D printing adds a third dimension to the printing process. These printers can use actuals materials like plastic, polymers and even the edible elements to create objects. Also referred to as additive manufacturing, this minimises wastage as the material is added rather than getting removed in the traditional mode of the manufacturing process.

Bioprinters use the same concept as the 3D Printers. The major difference is the material used. Bioprinters use biological materials like living cells, to build complex structures like blood vessels or skin tissue. The cells are taken from the patient itself and then cultivated before being fed into the printer to produce the organs.

The Future

Well, creating complex organs like heart, kidney or similar others may not be something we may be able to find any time quite soon. It would take almost another decade to materialise, but still, there have been developments in terms of technology at a considerably rapid pace.

Rapid Prototyping Services have been involved in several developmental activities as of now and simpler structures have already underway being manufactured – or printed rather. However, unlike in other 3D Printing technologies, the advancements in bioprinting is quite much gradual and slower. The human organs are quite complex in nature and they need to be positioned with the highest degree of precision for a proper functionality. That would indeed be a difficult process and would need a lot of accuracies.

That would possibly explain the slow growth of the advancements in technology. Each of the organs come with their own specialised requirements and it may not be quite easy to replicate those standard requirements. It would need a lot of prototyping before it can indeed be available for the patients.

However, it should come as respite that despite all the odds, the Bioprinting technology has been growing a steady growth. Though it is quite early to experience the fruits of this innovation, still, we would consider that the future of healthcare and medicine is indeed much different in a decade from now – thanks to Bioprinting technology.

It can safely be said that just the way it is helping us in low cost and green technology in the areas like manufacturing and prosthetics, the 3D printing technology would be transforming the healthcare scenario as well.