January 8, 2012
The January 2012 issue of Mechanical Engineer magazine features an in-depth story about the research Ibrahim Ozbolat, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, is conducting in the 3-D printing of living organs for transplant.
The article points out that Ozbolat is among a group of researchers organizing around bioprinting, the potential to print replacement human organs grown in a self-organized way, without the tissue scaffolding traditionally used now to grow biological tissue in two or three dimensions.
The end goal of the research is the growing of a biocompatible piece of tissue to repair or replace a patient's own damaged body part, such as bopne, cartilage, blood vessels, or skin.
Ozbolat is currently working in the Center for Computer-Aided Design's Biomanufacturing Laboratory to create microfluidic vessel-like chambers that will stand in for the capillaries and vessels that pump blood through complex printed organs to supply nutrients and oxygen.
The complete article in Mechanical Engineering magazine is available at www.engineering.uiowa/news/ozbolat.pdf.
