3D Candy Printer Inspiration Could Lower Costs of Drug Testing

Feb-21-14 A new technology inspired by the specialty candy-creating 3D printers could lead to a lower cost method of printing the cellular structures that are used in drug testing.

Described by Tanner Carden as “a form of reverse 3D printing,” the CarmAl (Carbohydrate Anhydrous Rapid Manufacturing Aluminum) extruder uses sugar molecules to first build the desired structures that are then embeded in a cellular matrix. After the cells grow around the structure, the sugar can be washed away with a solvent, leaving behind a mass of cells with a system of vessels similar to a human organ. The addition of vessels allows the cells to be fed nutrients and kept alive, and vascularizations can be created to precisely mimic that of the organ the drug is to be tested on.

More Info about this Invention:

[PHYS.ORG]
[UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA]

---