[SCIENCE!] 3D Printed Exoskeleton Helps Toddler Overcome Muscular Disorder - Page 2

Doc ock rokc · 08-05-2012, 04:27 AM

man 3D printers are so freaking awesome. I despitely want to buy and build one. I especially since recently a brilliant sob has almost perfected the ability to print microchips.

Locke cole · 08-05-2012, 09:01 AM

I'm especially interested in printing organs for transplants. Grow a cell culture from the organ in question off of the person who needs it, print an organ with that, and voila, a transplantable organ that will not be rejected by the body.

Just... man, there's so many applications for these machines.

Sithdarth · 08-05-2012, 09:28 AM

Printing organs like that isn't really a smart thing to do. Firstly generally speaking the orientations of cells in an organ don't lend themselves to printing. They generally aren't stacked like little bricks. Secondly organs really aren't rigid they are basically squishy sacks of fluid which would collapse as you printed without proper support. Then you have all the logistics of making a printer head that can print cells at the proper resolution without killing them as well as finding a way to make them bind together properly.

The better option is just to culture the cells (like you would do to make the ink for the 3D printer) on directly on a scaffold that looks like the organ you need. This as already been done for rats and requires basically no engineering. Its not even really slower than printing an organ either when you factor in the time it would take to culture the cells for the ink. The scaffold could potentially be 3D printed but you can just as easily take say a pig organ wash away everything that isn't cartilage and grow human cells on that. This leaves you with a rejection free human organ with the exact DNA of the person you cultured the cells from. The only real challenge is culturing the cells, which has already been done, no need for any complex engineering solutions.

Hmm I guess we've actually progressed to Human trials. That's farther than I thought.

Locke cole · 08-05-2012, 12:26 PM

Oh, well there we go then. I was just parroting an article I heard of before.

Aerozord · 08-05-2012, 12:57 PM

I hope this doesn't make me the guy that injects negativity in this but I wanted some actual opinions

Do you think 3D printers will accelerate or slow the advancement of nano-fabrication? While this could be seen as forerunner of nano-fabrication much the same way the steam engine came before internal combustion engine. Though on the other hand humans are slower to advance on technology if an adequate one already exists. 3D printers can build alot so people might not worry too much that they cant make a steak dinner or ~~HDD~~ (actually not sure they cant do this)

Sifright · 08-05-2012, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord

I hope this doesn't make me the guy that injects negativity in this but I wanted some actual opinions

Do you think 3D printers will accelerate or slow the advancement of nano-fabrication? While this could be seen as forerunner of nano-fabrication much the same way the steam engine came before internal combustion engine. Though on the other hand humans are slower to advance on technology if an adequate one already exists. 3D printers can build alot so people might not worry too much that they cant make a steak dinner or ~~HDD~~ (actually not sure they cant do this)

Nano technology as in nanites like in science fiction? Or nano technology as in anything being created on the nano scale?

Because the nanites idea is totally never going to be a thing. it's simply isn't possible to have something that small and have it able to process more than one particular substance.

Where as building things in the nanoscale is something that will increasingly be done regardless.

Aerozord · 08-05-2012, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sifright

Nano technology as in nanites like in science fiction? Or nano technology as in anything being created on the nano scale?

Because the nanites idea is totally never going to be a thing. it's simply isn't possible to have something that small and have it able to process more than one particular substance.

Where as building things in the nanoscale is something that will increasingly be done regardless.

neither, I mean building macro-objects from the nanoscale, literally rearranging molecular bonds to build anything as long as you have the correct atoms to make it allowing you to, for example, turn carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen into any organic material you want. You of course can also define it as molecular precise construction where you still need the proper molecular chains but would get the job done for just about any inorganic object you'd like.

Doc ock rokc · 08-05-2012, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord

neither, I mean building macro-objects from the nanoscale, literally rearranging molecular bonds to build anything as long as you have the correct atoms to make it allowing you to, for example, turn carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen into any organic material you want. You of course can also define it as molecular precise construction where you still need the proper molecular chains but would get the job done for just about any inorganic object you'd like.

Most likely 3dprinting wouldn't slow the process down.

08-05-2012, 04:27 AM	#11
Doc ock rokc ...Really? Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: in Theory. Everything works here Posts: 3,961	man 3D printers are so freaking awesome. I despitely want to buy and build one. I especially since recently a brilliant sob has almost perfected the ability to print microchips. __________________ I have a Pesterchum its DangerousDoc I am ether fading out of Time, Space, or Reality...Or Simply my Typewriter is running out of ink

08-05-2012, 12:57 PM	#15
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	I hope this doesn't make me the guy that injects negativity in this but I wanted some actual opinions Do you think 3D printers will accelerate or slow the advancement of nano-fabrication? While this could be seen as forerunner of nano-fabrication much the same way the steam engine came before internal combustion engine. Though on the other hand humans are slower to advance on technology if an adequate one already exists. 3D printers can build alot so people might not worry too much that they cant make a steak dinner or ~~HDD~~ (actually not sure they cant do this) __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."

08-05-2012, 09:28 AM	#13
Sithdarth Friendly Neighborhood Quantum Hobo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Outside the M-brane look'n in Posts: 5,403	Printing organs like that isn't really a smart thing to do. Firstly generally speaking the orientations of cells in an organ don't lend themselves to printing. They generally aren't stacked like little bricks. Secondly organs really aren't rigid they are basically squishy sacks of fluid which would collapse as you printed without proper support. Then you have all the logistics of making a printer head that can print cells at the proper resolution without killing them as well as finding a way to make them bind together properly. The better option is just to culture the cells (like you would do to make the ink for the 3D printer) on directly on a scaffold that looks like the organ you need. This as already been done for rats and requires basically no engineering. Its not even really slower than printing an organ either when you factor in the time it would take to culture the cells for the ink. The scaffold could potentially be 3D printed but you can just as easily take say a pig organ wash away everything that isn't cartilage and grow human cells on that. This leaves you with a rejection free human organ with the exact DNA of the person you cultured the cells from. The only real challenge is culturing the cells, which has already been done, no need for any complex engineering solutions. Hmm I guess we've actually progressed to Human trials. That's farther than I thought.