Researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich have developed a way of producing body parts containing cartilage, with the help of a 3D printer.
One of the first practical applications of this method is reconstructive surgery. Damaged body parts, like a nose or an ear, can be rebuilt in a computer 3D model. Cartilage cells are thenremoved through a biopsy. In the laboratory these cells are cultivated and mixed with a biopolymer which is used as a shaping mould. From this body parts can then be shaped with a 3D printer. The reconstructed body part is then ready to be transplanted into the body. Bioprinting advancing again and again!