3D-Printing ‘Glue Gun’ Can Repair Bone Fractures During Surgery Filling-In The Gaps Around Jagged Edges

3D-Printing ‘Glue Gun’ Can Repair Bone Fractures During Surgery Filling-In The Gaps Around Jagged Edges

3D-Printing ‘Glue Gun’ Can Repair Bone Fractures During Surgery Filling-In The Gaps Around Jagged Edges Credit: the journal Device / Jeon et al. A new 3D printing “glue gun” can generate bone grafts directly onto fractures, using a revolutionary process that can fill-in the gaps around the site’s jagged edges. Now, the researchers in South Korea are preparing for human trials, having developed a tool made from a modified glue gun that can 3D-print bone grafts to repair defects during surgery. Essentially, it quickly creates bone implants on the spot, without the need for making them in advance. The researchers “optimized” the 3D-printed grafts until they exhibited high structural flexibility while releasing anti-inflammatory antibiotics and promoting natural bone regrowth at the grafting site—conforming to the jagged edges of a fracture. Bone implants have previously been made of metal or donor bone or, more recently, 3D-printed material. But in cases involving more complex fractures the im…