The eventual creation of replacement biological parts requires fully three-dimensional capabilities that two-dimensional and three-dimensional thin-film bioprinting cannot supply.
Now, using a yield stress gel, Penn State engineers can place tiny aggregates of cells exactly where they want to build the complex shapes that will be necessary to replace bone, cartilage and other tissues.
That supportive field, the researchers report today (Oct. 16) in Communication Physics is a yield stress gel. Yield stress gels are unusual in that without stress they are solid gels, but under stress, they become liquid.