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The printer looks like a toaster oven with the front and sides removed. Its metal frame is built up around a stainless steel circle lit by an ultraviolet light. Stainless steel hydraulics and thin black tubes line the back edge, which lead to an inner, topside box made of red plastic. In front, the metal is etched with the red Bio Bot logo.
All together, the gray metal frame is small enough to fit on top of an old-fashioned school desk, but nothing about this 3-D printer is old school. In fact, the tissue-printing machine is more like a sci-fi future in the flesh—and it has very real medical applications. Researchers hope to use this newly acquired 3-D bioprinter to make synthesized nerve tissue. The key is developing the right “bio-ink” or printable tissue. The nanotechnology-inspired material could help regenerate damaged nerves for patients with spinal cord injuries.Image credit: Sarah Bird, Michigan Technological University
