Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego have
developed a novel technology that can fabricate, in mere seconds, microscale
three dimensional (3D) structures out of soft, biocompatible hydrogels. Near
term, the technology could lead to better systems for growing and studying
cells, including stem cells, in the laboratory. Long-term, the goal is to be
able to print biological tissues for regenerative medicine. For example, in the
future, doctors may repair the damage caused by heart attack by replacing it
with tissue that rolled off of a printer.
Reported in the journal Advanced Materials, the
biofabrication technology, called dynamic optical projection stereolithography
(DOPsL), was developed in the laboratory of NanoEngineering Professor Shaochen
Chen.