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In-Depth Information
Magic Arms
Using hinged metal bars and resistive
rubber bands, the Wilmington Robotic
Exoskeleton (WREX) gives patients with
underdeveloped arms a wide range of
arm motion.
The original WREX, made from ma-
chined parts, fit children as young as six,
but for two-year-old Emma Lavelle, re-
searchers discovered they could 3D
print smaller, lighter parts. Printed using
a Stratasys Dimension 3D printer, the
ABS plastic exoskeleton allows for easy
customization and fine-tuning for the 15
children now using it.
Figure 16-20.
WREX Magic Arms
Tissue Engineering
San Diego-based innovators Organovo
have engineered several custom, com-
mercial NovoGen MMX Bioprinters, ca-
pable of printing tissue structures.
The machines feature dual extruders:
one that prints a water-soluble gel that
acts as the scaffolding, and another that
fills the armature with a bio-ink of living
cells (each drop containing 10K to 30K
cells) that naturally flow together and
fuse. The fundamental nature of biolog-
ical materials is to self-organize, and
after an incubation period, the cells con-
tinue to develop and grow without the
gel component. The team has been able
to print a 1 mm-diameter, 5 cm-long
blood vessel in 30 minutes.
Figure 16-21.
Organovo's NovoGen MMX Bioprinter.
