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 insects, a low-cost material called Shrilk may someday be used instead of plastic in consumer and medical applications ranging from bagging trash and diapering babies to suturing wounds and scaffolding for tissue regeneration, according to researchers at Harvard University.
Shrilk got its name because of its composition: fibroin protein from silk and from chitin, which can be extracted from shrimp shells. “The material exhibits the strength of an aluminum alloy at half its weight while being clear, biocompatible, biodegradable, and micro moldable,” write the researchers Javier G. Fernandez and Donald E. Ingber in Advanced Materials. They also noted that it is twice as strong as nylon or polylactic acid. The researchers were able to create shrilk with different levels of stiffness — from elastic to rigid — by controlling how much water was used during fabrication.
The Harvard researchers got the idea for the material from insects such as grasshoppers that use natural cuticle for a hard but lightweight exoskeleton that protects its internal organs as well as for flexible wing structures. According to a statement from Harvard:
Insect cuticle is a composite material consisting of layers of chitin, a polysaccharide polymer, and protein organized in a laminar, plywood-like structure. Mechanical and chemical interactions between these materials provide the cuticle with its unique mechanical and chemical properties. By studying these complex interactions and recreating this unique chemistry and laminar design in the lab, Fernandez and Ingber were able to engineer a thin, clear film that has the same composition and structure as insect cuticle.
The researchers write that Shrilk contains only two molecular components, so it is the simplest model of an insect cuticle. Therefore, they write, other components could be incorporated to create additional composites that mimic other similar biological models such as mollusks and crustacea shells.
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