This New Method for Creating 3D Artificial Tissue Was Inspired by Children's Pop-up Books
November 02, 2021
Inspiration for medical innovation can come from anywhere. Case in point, University at Buffalo researchers developed a new method — inspired by children's pop-up books — for creating 3D artificial tissue.
Described in Advanced Science, the method is based upon compressive buckling – the structural engineering principle that explains why figures project outward from the pages of children’s pop-up books.
In a series of experiments, researchers used the compressive buckling method to fabricate a variety of three-dimensional polymeric structures. These include simple shapes, such as a box and a pyramid, as well as more complex demonstrations, such as a sound wave and an eight-legged design that resembles an octopus.