When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Inspired by mussels’ ability to adhere to many surfaces underwater, German researchers have developed a group of adhesives that are waterproof, can bind themselves together, react with surfaces, degrade with light, and are biocompatible.
The materials have applications in medicine, reports Azom.com. They could be used for removable hydrogel pads that help regenerate skin or as a reversible superglue for repeated operations. The researchers wrote about their development in the journal.
Adhesives today have incredible bonding strength. They can hold together airfoils on airplanes, for example. However, there is a need for other applications as well: bonding that can occur underwater, repairs for underwater pipelines, sealing of bleeding wounds during operations, “self-healing” adhesives that would prevent catastrophic failures, and “on demand” debonding without residues to allow for replacement of components.
Mussels use the amino acid, dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), to stick to all types of surfaces. The acid mixes with seawater to the forum a polymer matrix capable of bonding to inorganic oxides in rock. Also, they bind to polyvalent metal ions, such as iron ions, that give the mussel adhesive the ability to self-heal.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz produced polymers with DOPA-like components that self-healed; it takes a few minutes for a sliced gel sample to grow back together. Also, the adhesive can be split by irradiation with ultraviolet light. This characteristic means that the adhesive can be debonded.
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