Caltech researchers developed deep tissue sound printing, which uses focused ultrasound to solidify bioink directly inside a patient's body while they're awake. The technique could eliminate organ transplant waiting lists and risky surgeries by printing functional tissue in place, without needing a lab or donor organs.
Researchers at Caltech have just figured out how to 3D print living organs inside your body. The technology is called deep tissue sound printing, and it allows doctors to grow living tissue deep inside your chest or your brain while you're still awake. Most 3D printers need a flat surface in a sterile lab to build an organ, and then once you have the organ, you still need to have it surgically implanted, which is always very risky. But the Caltech system uses ultrasound to reach through the skin and bone. It sends sound waves into a special bioink injected into the body, instantly turning that liquid into solid human tissue. But why is this so important? Well, eventually the messy era of surgery could be over. Thousands of people die every year waiting for organ transplants, and this internal printer could mean you never have to wait for a donor ever again.
