The robot will be able to get inside the person and use it bioink as printing material from living cells. It can work both according to the entered action algorithm and manually controlled in real time. Scientists expect the technology to help both perform operations without damaging external tissues and conduct diagnostic studies of internal organs.

what is known

The device, called F3DB, was developed by engineers from the University of New South Wales (Australia).

Modern methods using fabric printing on a 3D printer are always a risk. Models created outside the body may not fit the patient or may be rejected after surgery. Not to mention the need for open surgery, which increases the risk of infection. A robotic arm can build biomaterials directly onto organs with virtually no damage to a patient’s healthy tissue. At the same time, the probability of rejection is also minimal.

Demonstration of F3DB operation: video

The device can press on large areas such as stomach, heart or bladder surface that cannot be done with other methods.

The invention has been tested on flat and curved surfaces, as well as inside an artificial colon and on the surface of a pig kidney. The results showed that most cells remained alive. With further development, the technology can be used by medical professionals to access hard-to-reach areas inside the body through small skin incisions or natural openings. The creators also say that the device can be easily thinned.

This system offers the potential to accurately reconstruct three-dimensional wounds within the body, such as injuries to the stomach wall or colon damage and disease.
– the engineers explain.

In addition to printing tissues and even whole organs (the developers do not specify the size of such organs, but the device is unlikely to print something large and very complex), Doctors can operate – for example, to eliminate colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in the world. The F3DB printhead attachment can be used as a kind of electric scalpel to first mark and then cut out cancerous growths. Water can also be directed through a nozzle to simultaneously clean the area of ​​blood and excess tissue, while instant on-site 3D printing of the biomaterial and rapid drug delivery will promote faster healing.

The robot can be used like an ordinary endoscope.

Engineers use their devices It will arrive at the hospital in 5-7 years.