(Image source: Maria Konovalenko)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

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Imagine the possibility of skipping the doctor’s office for a transplant and going to your own office instead - well, something like that.

“The same kind of machine that turns out documents at the click of a mouse, might some day print out the body part of your choice.”(PopSci)

Scientists are working on a three-dimensional printer, resembling and working much like the printers you have at your desk, except instead of ink in the cartridge, it’s your skin cells.

At first, it was used to make food and even repair a casting of a sculpture. James Yoo, a researcher at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, told the BBC, he and his team are taking it to new heights: repairing the skin of burn victim’s.

 “…using bioprinting we thought that we could address some of the challenges they’re facing with burn care … what’s unique about this device is that it has a scanner system that can identify the extent and depth of the wound…”

Although it may seem as easy as clicking “print” on your computer, the technology might be further away than around the corner. This video of Dr. Lipton from Golem.de explains why

“There’s still a long way to go before we can take these things and directly implant them into human. There are more animal tests that need to be done. There’s a whole series of steps before this can be compatible commercially as conventional implants.”

And The Washingon Post adds -- researchers also haven’t perfected replication of more complicated bodily structures and organs.

 “...the biggest technical challenge for scientists is not making the organ itself, but replicating the intricate internal network of blood vessels, which nourishes it and provides it with oxygen.”

But regardless of the challenges these scientists face, many believe that in roughly 20 years, this technology will be mainstream.  And the next step? We could be printing entire bodies. 

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