We’ve been printing documents and pictures for ages and lately
3D printers have been helping us make all kinds of 3D objects
like toys and custom parts for equipment. Now the latest use for
3D printers is to create custom human bones. Washington State
University researchers have modified a 3-D printer that usually
creates metal parts to do just that. They are creating a bone-
like material that acts as a framework for new bone cells. The
hope is that after a few years, doctors and dentists will be
able to print custom bone tissue on demand. So far it looks like
this bone-like material has no ill effects and it also
eventually dissolves, but only after it has provided the
framework for new bone cells. They also encourage the growth of
new bone that fuses with existing tissue. This opens up a world
of possibilities that doctors did not have before and could
create nearly perfect replacement parts. The process is also
fast. Researchers report that networks of new bone cells grew
within the structures after only a