ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | JULY/AUGUST 2023 72 3D PRINTSHOP PRINTED INK HELPS HEAL WOUNDS An ink that is applied using a 3D-printing gun can help the body heal itself. A paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces describes development of a wound-healing ink that can actively encourage the body to heal by exposing the cut to immune-system vesicles. The ink can be spread into a cut of any shape using a 3D-printing pen, and in mice, the technology nearly completely repaired wounds in just 12 days. White blood cells or the extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from them play important roles in promoting blood vessel formation and reducing inflammation during healing. The team developed a system called PAINT, or “portable bioactive ink for tissue healing,” using EVs secreted from macrophages combined with sodium alginate. These components were combined in a 3D-printing pen, where they mixed at the pen’s tip and formed a sturdy gel at the site of injury within three minutes. The EVs promoted blood vessel formation and reduced inflammatory markers in human epithelial cells, shifting them into the “proliferative,” or growth, phase of healing. PAINT was also tested on injured mice, where it promoted collagen fiber formation. acs.org. SOFTWARE MONITORS PRINTED PARTS IN REAL TIME A start-up company working under Argonne National Laboratory’s Chain Reaction Innovations program uses optical monitoring software to inspect parts as they are printed, making it faster to find flaws or anomalies. Phase3D uses structured light to digitally measure the height of the thin layers of metal to detect defects. This can help a manufacturer stop a build mid-process, adjust for any problem, and resume successful 3D printing. “In 3D printing, there can be up to tens of thousands of layers that can be as small as a fifth of the width of a human hair,” says Phase3D founder Niall O’Dowd. “Instead of using images or relative heat from the process to find defects, we created a reliable inspection system that inspects the height of the layers. As standards and regulations mature, it’s really important to have this kind of inspection data.” “In a random build, sometimes we’re looking at a pore that is just tens of micrometers in size,” O’Dowd adds. “Without post-build inspection, we don’t know if we are seeing fluc- tuations or anomalies. Instead, we deliberately introduce a defect that is anywhere from 20 to 200 microns, and then we test our technique.” additivemonitoring.com. U.S. DOE’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, which funds Argonne’s Chain Reaction Innovations program, helped Phase3D’s Niall O’Dowd connect with resources and experts to develop clean energy through high tech. Courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory. 3D-printing pen paints a gel that can help wounds of all shapes heal quickly and effectively. Courtesy of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Siemens is expanding focus on additive manufacturing (AM) initiatives in the United States to help accelerate the transformation of the U.S. AM industry through serial additive manufacturing. Siemens plans to assist the domestic AM machine builder community through its world-class motion control, automation hardware, digitalization software, and technology capabilities. From its Charlotte Advanced Technology Collaboration Hub (CATCH), located in Charlotte, N.C., Siemens will act as an ecosystem platform for machine builders, machine users, and additive design engineers alike. siemens.com. BRIEF
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