3D technology is great for a lot of reasons – it can transcend us into the world of film and fantasy and allow us to interact with technology in a very different way – but who would have thought it could help us to grow new bones?

Thanks to a 3D printer, researchers at Washington State University have managed to create a bone-like material which can be used to repair injuries. The substance can be added to naturally damaged bone where it acts as a scaffold for new cells to grow and in time, this scaffold will dissolve. This technological breakthrough is set to revolutionize the world of orthopedic surgery as researchers believe that in a couple of year’s time, doctors should be able to order custom-built bone scaffolds.

Initial tests carried out by the research team on immature foetal bone cells found
that new bone cells started growing over the scaffold within the first week of attachment. The team, which includes a number of mechanical and materials engineering professors, have spent four years developing this bone-like substance and their breakthrough came recently, when they discovered a way to double the strength of the main ceramic powder – calcium phosphate – by adding silica and zinc oxide. In order to create the scaffold shapes, they customised a printer which had originally been designed to make three-dimensional metal objects.

Professor Susmita Bose, one of the lead researchers at Washington State University, said: “The way I envision it is that 10 to 20 years down the line, physicians and surgeons should be able to use these bone scaffolds along with some bone growth factors, whether it is for jaw bone fixation or spinal fusion fixation.”