- December 16th, 2015
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- Categories: 3D Printing, 3D Printing - Health, News
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3D Bioprinting as Free Online Course in Australia
3D printing has exploded and it has become one of the most viable and most important aspects in the emergence of futuristic technologies that have many potential uses. It has become a staple aspect in crafting props for various productions, toys for children, and even assistive devices for the disabled. Indeed, this emerging technology has found a great following of people who can only limit themselves to their imaginations when it comes to such an amazing add-on to the 21st century.
On the other hand, healthcare has also evolved and improved as time goes by. From what started as a regimen for herbal treatment when our ancestors first walked the earth has now transformed into a multi-faceted industry where the welfare and the overall health of the person is a major aspect.
Science fiction has dabbled into the realm of futuristic technologies, and one of these is the integration of artificial body organs. People have also seen stories and tales about the arrival of replacements for various parts of the human body. While prosthetics have taken the first big step to this seemingly fictitious aspect of healthcare, bioprinting will step up and make another leap so that people will be able to find more options for the betterment of their being.
Bioprinting is essentially the recreation of body parts and organs for life-preserving purposes, as well as research. The University of Wollongong in Australia is one of the four learning institutions in the world that offers a master’s degree in bioprinting. This new field of study is certainly a welcome addition because it has the potential to produce talented people who can advance bioprinting in a way that could help millions of people worldwide.
The University of Wollongong has an innovation center, the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials or the AIIM, and it is an important aspect of this school because of its continuing research for Bioengineering and 3D bioprinting. They have also been developing a bio-ink that has human cells set in. With more research and development, this bio-ink would have the likeliness to become the framework and even the standard for printing-based organ creation and transplantation.
So, the University of Wollongong has set up a four-week online course for bioprinting, which consists of studying and case studies. They will also tackle other metal-based implants that are also going to be 3D-printed. It is a full course where students can get guided directions for printing, as well the possibility to print their own designs through a local 3D printing facility.
This free course would allow the University of Wollongong to flesh out the talents of people who want to become more and contribute more to the ever expanding realms of healthcare and technology. Though bioprinting is still a strange and surreal thing to imagine, it is still a very important course and it can definitely help many people in the years to come. If more people understand this new medical-surgical leap, getting to the endpoint of bioprinting would be much easier. The world will slowly be able to combat many types of organ failure or other forms of disability.