In house, manufacturing has all the time been an space with a lot hypothesis however little precise progress. The concept is easy: zero or diminished gravity environments could also be a greater place to fabricate sure issues. Maybe fiber optic cable, coronary heart valves, or semiconductors can be made with fewer errors and better purity. Regardless of a number of funding and a discount in launch prices, little precise viable manufacturing has been carried out thus far.
However, not for need of attempting. Now ETH Zurich has hit the vomit comet to fabricate muscle tissue. Courageous researchers, on empty stomachs, one would assume, have used a 3D printer to make 2.5D mouse muscle tissue (thin-layered samples moderately than full 3D buildings). The workforce hopes that this expertise could possibly be utilized by house vacationers to battle house situations reminiscent of muscle atrophy brought on by house journey, and likewise thinks that it might make “extra life like muscle fashions that replicate how tissue really behaves in house.”
Optical parts of G-FLight printer and resin formulations.
The work revealed in Wiley Superior Science is titled “Extended Cell Encapsulation and Gravity-independent Filamented Gentle Biofabrication of Muscle Constructs.” Will this be an answer if Jeff Bezos twists his ankle {golfing} on Mars, or will there be wider ramifications? May maybe the stay-behinds profit too? We don’t know but, however the workforce has created its personal G-FLight printer for FLight printing. This 405 nm LaserTrack diode laser-powered unit was particularly made to print with microfilamented hydrogels. The resin is a gelatin methacryloyl resin, GelMA.
The workforce additionally made customized resin formulations and needed to work out tips on how to preserve the resin at 4°C and print at 4°C (as a gel) and 37°C as a liquid, whereas one other Cryo resin was saved at -80°C and printed at 4°C. The workforce created a freezer unit to maintain the resin frozen on board, Mr. Frosty. Additionally they built-in a child bottle hotter to heat up resins. The tissues have been printed in cuvettes, much like how Xolo does it, after which pushed again to Zurich.
To maintain the printer easy, they used a cut-out masks, which implies that they will solely print one repeated form, very limiting certainly, nevertheless it did preserve the printer safer and easier. The prints, subsequently, have been 2.5D. The workforce believes that the construction they created on the comet was the identical as these made again on Earth. Dangerous information for the stay-behinds, subsequently, however excellent news for Jeff.
G-FLight printer and instance prints of microfilamented constructs.
In addition to a brand new meniscus for probably literal plutocrats, the workforce thinks they can 3D print meat or actuators made out of human tissue. The workforce additionally thinks that they can 3D print tendons or cartilage, so there could possibly be no obstacle in any respect to treating any and all house billionaires’ space-sustained sports-related accidents. Play hockey, Jeff, attempt squash. For now, they used mouse myoblasts, and I actually hope the mice are grateful for all of the work we’re doing for them. However, maybe they’ll be about as comfortable as rabbits are with their countless shampoos and lipstick.
Reimagining an area manufacturing system so simple as this one to rapidly print buildings is an attention-grabbing train. Maybe for sure issues, reminiscent of Massive Macs for astronauts, or pores and skin tissue, monomers, proteins, an extended repetitive print of the identical construction might really be an answer in and of itself. The frugality of this and the way in which it ought to stand as much as knocks and launches are a results of its simplicity. The cuvettes method additionally reduces a number of sloshing round hazard as properly. So there’s fairly a bit right here to study. However for in-space manufacturing, different bioprinters are rather more versatile and full units, although. We’ve seen fairly a little bit of bioprinting in house adventures with Redwire 3D printing a meniscus in 2023. Belgian researchers try to print coronary heart tissue in house, and Auxilium Biotechnologies has formally launched a medical trial of its NeuroSpan Bridge implant. Most in house programs are made with materials extrusion, however Photocentric has a spinning LCD system, which makes polymer components. With a lot occurring, it’s tempting to see a gold rush forming. Nonetheless, to this point, hypothesis and hope are fueling these developments. In contrast to the house launch or satellite tv for pc array enterprise, there isn’t a but workable enterprise mannequin for in-space manufacturing. Maybe ETH’s easier method might make smaller, extra cheap machines which might be cheaper to fly. That might make it cheaper to run experiments which will result in a viable in-space enterprise that would propel analysis towards commercialization.
Pictures courtesy of ETH Zurich / Wiley On-line Library
Subscribe to Our Electronic mail E-newsletter
Keep up-to-date on all the most recent information from the 3D printing trade and obtain data and provides from third get together distributors.
Add your 3D Fashions and get them printed rapidly and effectively.
