Flexible robot F3DB enables in vivo 3D bioprinting

A team from the Medical Robotics Laboratory at the University of New South Wales has developed F3DB, a miniature flexible 3D bioprinter that can be inserted into the human body like an endoscope to deliver multiple layers of biological materials directly to internal organs and tissue surfaces; the research was published in the journal Advanced Materials. The device features a flexible rotating head and a snake-like robotic arm, has been tested in an artificial colon and printed materials in different shapes onto the surface of pig kidneys, and its smallest prototype has a diameter of about 11-13 micrometers; the system has been patented, and the next stage will be testing in live animals.