This remarkable soft robotic arm can be used to 3D print biological material directly onto existing organs in the human body.
The new research from UNSW Medical Robotics Lab, led by Dr. Thanh Nho Do and his Ph.D. student Mai Thanh Thai, in collaboration with other researchers from UNSW including Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, Dr. Hoang-Phuong Phan, and Associate Professor Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina, is detailed in a paper published in Advanced Science.
Their work has resulted in a tiny flexible 3D bioprinter that has the ability to be inserted into the body just like an endoscope and directly deliver multilayered biomaterials onto the surface of internal organs and tissues.
The proof-of-concept device, known as F3DB, features a highly maneuverable swivel head that "prints" the bioink, attached to the end of a long and flexible snake-like robotic arm, all of which can be controlled externally.
This bioprinter appears to accomplish in reality what this fictional device from the movie Starship Troopers is doing.
(Starship Troopers medical tank)
Also, it would make possible what sf writer Philip K. Dick envisioned in his 1969 masterpiece Ubik. Dick introduced the idea of implanting secondary artificial organic organs - perhaps smaller versions of the originals - as backup.
Probably Runciter's body contained a dozen artiforgs, artificial organs grafted into place in his physiological apparatus as the genuine, original ones, failed.
(Read more about Dick's artiforgs)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/13/2023)
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...' - Hugo Gernsback, 1911.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'