Gartner hype cycle 2011 technology maturity. Emerging Field Of Organ Printing. The technology is the same as that of the simple inkjet printer found in homes and offices, but Japanese scientist Makoto Nakamura is on a mission to see if it can also produce human organs.
The idea is for the printer to jet out thousands of cells per second – rather than ink droplets – and to build them up into a three-dimensional organ. “It would be like building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass,” he told AFP in this city in central Japan. “Ultimately I hope to make a heart,” said Nakamura, professor at the graduate school of science and technology for research at the state-run University of Toyama.
While Nakamura says it would take him some 20 years to develop a heart, the feat could pave the way to mass produce “good hearts” for patients waiting for transplants. A heart made of cells originating from the patient could eliminate fears that the body would reject it. Imprimer des organes, c'est possible. Vous perdez vos cheveux?
Courez acheter l'imprimante de Makoto Nakamura. Ce chercheur japonais expérimente en effet la technologie des systèmes d'impression à jet d'encre pour recréer des tissus humains. Il a déjà réussi à fabriquer un cylindre d'un dixième de millimètre de diamètre, équivalent à celui d'un cheveu. Le savant fou est parti du principe qu'un organe humain est un assemblage très ordonné de cellules, que celles-ci ont à peu près les mêmes dimensions que les gouttes bombardées sur du papier par une imprimante à jet d'encre.
Imprimer en 3D.