Scientists Can Now 3D Print Tissues Directly Inside the Body—No Surgery Needed

A new bioprinter uses ultrasound to print tissues, biosensors, and medication depots deep in the body.

System uses an injectable bioink that’s liquid at body temperature but solidifies into structures when blasted with ultrasound.

In tests, the team 3D printed tissues inside a rabbit's stomach and mouse's bladder.

The new technology made it into muscles and more precisely activated the bioink to form shapes.

The system works at roughly 40 millimeters a second , the average speed of an inkjet printer.

In mice with bladder cancer, the team 3D printed a kind of depot that slowly released anticancer drugs to stave off cancer growth.