Hydrogel Hand Bone Scaffolds

Over 900,000 patients undergo a bone-related surgery each year that may require a bone implant. The immune system is very good at fighting foreign bodies, so implant rejection is a frequent concern. Epibone is a Brooklyn-based biotech startup aiming to grow personalized bone implants. Using stem cells from a patient’s fatty tissue and mico-CT scans of their bone defect, Epibone can create an implant that will be recognized as the patient’s own tissue. Chris Venter and I from Autodesk’s Bio/Nano Research Team collaborated with Epibone to print bone scaffolds for cell growth. The design and construction of these scaffolds are exceptional examples of Autodesk technologies working in concert to create an innovative produce.

The files included in this Thing are hand bones printed the same way Epibone’s implants would be, meaning they have the potential to be used for autologous bone growth. This hand model was used to display our technology at Autodesk University 2015 in Las Vegas. Incl