Researchers create bone-like material using 3D printer By Darren
Quick November 29, 2011 Over the past decade, 3D printing
technology has made the transition from huge expensive units
used by industry to produce prototype components to small
desktop units like the DIY MakerBot Thing-O-Matic that are
within the reach of home users. But home users looking to
produce custom household objects aren't the only ones set to
benefit from advances in 3D printing technology, with 3D bio-
printers offering the prospect of creating organs on demand for
replacement surgery. Now researchers have used a 3D printer to
create a bone-like material that could be used to create
customized scaffolds to stimulate the growth of replacement bone
tissue. For their work, researchers at Washington State
University (WSU) optimized a commercially available ProMetal 3D
printer designed to make metal objects. The re-purposed printer
uses an inkjet to spray a plastic binder over a bed of powder in
layers just 20 microns thick - that's about h