Bioprinting Blog

Design thinking is an invaluable skill that incorporates holistic first-person perspectives with rational and analytical thinking to arrive at creative solutions. It is an effective approach to tackling complex business, social, and technological problems. When design thinking is applied to healthcare and medicine, it leads to an innovative solution that may be more effective than other methods. x The principles of design thinking can be summed up in five simple steps: 1.  Empathize  with the users 2.  Define  the user’s needs and problems along with your own insights 3.  Ideate  by challenging assumptions and create new concepts and thought processes 4.  Prototype  by creating different solutions 5.  Test  out all the solutions In early March, we collaborated with  Ohlone College  to run a special projects program for the  CTE Health Science Pathway . The purpose of the project ...

Superbugs refer to strains of bacteria that cannot be killed using multiple antibiotics. Per the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), roughly 2 million people get sick from superbugs every year and about 23,000 of them die. An elderly American woman died in the US recently after having contracted an infection while being treated for a thigh bone fracture in India two years ago. Tests showed no drug or combination of drugs available in the US would have cured the infection. But where did these superbugs come from and why are they a problem now? Origin Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication previously used to treat them. It is a result of misusing antibiotics and evolution at work. Misusing antibiotics is when antibiotics are taken when they aren’t needed or not finished when they are needed. This leads to antibiotics becoming less effective for future bacterial infections and the development of antibiotic resis...

Ear scaffold printed by r3bEL bioprinter Plastic widget printed by a typical 3D printer By Mayasari Lim, Ph.D. When the r3bEL from SE3D is on display at CES , NSTA or other educational events focused on STEM, the first impression is that it’s another 3D printer like those manufactured by MakerBot or Dremel . As you move in closer and notice that there is no spool for filament, one becomes a bit puzzled and asks the question, “Dr. Lim, this is a 3D printer right?” In some ways but its features and applications are very different than the 3D printers most educators are familiar with. While the r3bEL may have the basic physical structure and platform resembling a 3D printer, it has certain distinct features that cannot be produced in 3D printers typically found in schools. The r3bEL is actually classified as a “bioprinter” for the following; F ACT #1 – It does not print plastic! Most desktop 3D printers like MakerBot are based on fused deposition ...

We are thrilled to announce that SE3D Education was recently awarded the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for 2015. The team at SE3D Education would like to take this opportunity to thank National Science Foundation (NSF) for giving us this opportunity to develop new technology for education. This project will commence in 1 January 2015. Keep posted for more updates.