MIT researchers use 3D printing to mimic soft tissues, create custom braces

Researchers at Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing methods to make 3D-printed customizable devices with soft tissue properties, reports Medgadget.

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Four things to know:

1. The researchers can 3D print patient-specific, flexible meshes consisting of thermoplastic polyurethane, which feature properties like collagen’s microscopic-scale internal structure.

2. The material features wavy patterns, which can be made to be tighter together to generate larger stiffness.

3. Different spaces of the material can have different physical features, which allows the stabilization of a joint in one direction while freeing it in another.

4. Researchers 3D-printed a mesh for an ankle brace and another device to stabilize a knee.

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