The new method, dubbed Continuous-curing after Light Exposure Aided by Redox initiation (CLEAR), will reportedly create materials with the flexibility to tolerate the heart’s constant beating. Further, the material produced through this process reportedly possesses the toughness to resist joint pressure as well as the adaptability to meet specific patient requirements.

Laboratory tests show this 3D-printed material molds and sticks to organs. Pictured is a porcine heart. Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

The team suggests that such biomaterials could be used to develop drug-infused heart bandages, cartilage patches and needle-less sutures, for instance.

“Cardiac and cartilage tissues are similar in that they have very limited capacity to repair themselves. When they’re damaged, there is no turning back. By developing new, more resilient materials to enhance that repair process, we can have a big impact on patients,” explained the researchers.

As such, the new CLEAR 3D-printing process is expected to produce robust, flexible materials that promise to stick to moist tissue by intertwining long molecules in the 3D-printed materials.

During trials of the material, which included stretching and weight-bearing tests, the researchers determined that the materials were tougher than those created using a standard 3D-printing process. Further, the material proved compatible with and adhered to animal tissues and organs.

The team believes the material could one day be used to mend cardiac defects, administer tissue-healing drugs to organs, stabilize herniated discs or perform suture-less surgical closures.

An article detailing the process, “Additive manufacturing of highly entangled polymer networks,” appears in the journal Science.

For more information, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of University of Colorado Boulder.