Skip to Content

Printing Bones in 3-D

The technology could be used by dentists and orthopedists to create custom implants that encourage growth of new bone.
December 1, 2011

Researchers at Washington State University tweaked a commercial 3-D printer to create three-dimensional structures made from a bone-like material. When incubated in the lab with immature bone cells, the printed bone helped support growth of a new network of bone cells. Preliminary tests in rats and rabbits also look promising, according to lead scientist Susmita Bose, co-author and professor in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Researchers customized a commercial 3-D printer to create scaffolds of a bone-like material. Credit: WSU

It’s possible that doctors will be able to custom order replacement bone tissue in a few years, said Bose, in a release from the university. “If a doctor has a CT scan of a defect, we can convert it to a CAD file and make the scaffold according to the defect,” Bose said.

To create the scaffolds, researchers optimized a commercially available ProMetal 3D printer designed to make metal objects. They also doubled the strength of the main building material, calcium phosphate, by adding silicon and zinc.The research was published in Dental Materials.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

This new data poisoning tool lets artists fight back against generative AI

The tool, called Nightshade, messes up training data in ways that could cause serious damage to image-generating AI models. 

The Biggest Questions: What is death?

New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.

Rogue superintelligence and merging with machines: Inside the mind of OpenAI’s chief scientist

An exclusive conversation with Ilya Sutskever on his fears for the future of AI and why they’ve made him change the focus of his life’s work.

How to fix the internet

If we want online discourse to improve, we need to move beyond the big platforms.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.