'Bioprinter' creates bespoke lab-grown body parts for transplant

A new 3D printer which uses biodegradable materials to form a tissue shape and living cells as 'ink' could be used to print tissues and organs

A bioprinter - a three dimensional printer that uses living cells in suspension as its ink, and injection nozzles that can follow a CT scan blueprint - brings the dream of transplant surgery a step nearer: a bespoke body part grown in a laboratory and installed by a robot surgeon.

Scientists and clinicians began exploring tissue culture for transplant surgery more than 20 years ago. But researchers in the US report in Nature Biotechnology that they have harnessed a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer to print living muscle, cartilage and bone to repair battlefield injury.