Replacement bones could soon be coming out of the 3D printer

In Switzerland, researchers have developed a very special form of printer ink: the substance being researched at the Technical University of Lausanne (EPFL) should enable a 3D printer to produce products based on natural substances that are comparable to human bone tissue in terms of their compressive strength.

According to the materials researchers, in the short term the new material could be used to repair antique vases – and in the long term human bone parts could also be produced. They published their results in the journal “Materials Today”.

The key to the success was therefore the addition of bacteria to the special ink for the 3D printer. The bacteria ensure that a mineralization process is started after the printing process, whereby calcium carbonate is formed. Within a few days the spray figure becomes a rock hard object

Calcium carbonate is known in nature as limestone and is of enormous economic importance as a raw material for construction. Models for the production process in the laboratory are, for example, mussels, whose shells become larger and stronger as a result of the formation of calcium carbonate.

Until now, the type of material a 3D printer can work with is still limited, explains Esther Amstad, head of the Soft Matter Laboratory at EPFL. “For example, they should behave like a solid at rest, but still be able to flow out through a 3D printing nozzle — a bit like ketchup.” Since the bone-hard structure of the newly developed ink only develops through the added bacteria, the new findings could advance work with the 3D printer, also for biomedical medicine.

The result, according to the researchers, is a strong and resilient biomaterial that can be produced with a standard 3D printer and completely natural materials. Incidentally, the bacteria cannot be found in the end product. After the mineralization is completed, the workpiece is immersed in ethanol.

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(t online)