A handheld ‘bone printer’ shows promise in animal tests

A handheld device can apply synthetic bone grafts directly at the site of a defect or injury without the need for prior imaging or fabrication.

Researchers demonstrated the technology by modifying a hot glue gun to 3-D print the material directly onto bone fractures in rabbits. Instead of using a regular glue stick, they employed a specially made “bioink,” the team reports September 5 in Device.

The idea was to design a printing system that could be easily equipped and…