Page 78 - Plastics News January 2018

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Siemens introduces Advanced Machine Engineering

iemens PLM Software, a business unit of the published in the journal Scientific Reports. Being able to
SSiemens Digital Factory Division, has introduced a match the structure and softness of body tissues means
modularized product development strategy for machinery that these structures could be used in medical procedures
manufacturers, called Advanced Machine Engineering. to form scaffolds that can act as a template for tissue
Siemens officials said it addresses challenges equipment regeneration, where damaged tissues are encouraged to
makers face today with increasing product complexity regrow.Regenerating damaged tissue by 'seeding' porous
and rapid delivery times. Advanced Machinery Engineering scaffolds with cells and encouraging them to grow allows
connects mechanical, electrical and software engineering the body to heal without the issues that normally affect
data. Engineers get access to a global prototype, known tissue-replacing transplant procedures, such as rejection
as digital twin, that can be tested virtually throughout by the body.The use of scaffolds is becoming more common
the development process. and varied in its applications, but this new technique is
special in that it creates super soft scaffolds that are like
The engineering platform can increase collaboration
and reduce development time, delivery risk and costs. the softest tissues in the human body and could help to
Advanced Machine Engineering leverages mechatronic promote this regeneration.
design, giving a common framework for mechanical, In particular, there might be future potential in seeding
electrical and software disciplines to work in parallel. neuronal cells; those involved in the brain and spinal
“With this technology, customers are able to deliver their cord.The researchers tested the 3D-printed structures
machines more quickly with higher-quality automated by seeding them with dermal fibroblast cells, which
solutions,” said Thomas Strigl, business development generate connective tissue in the skin, and found that
manager of German factory design company EDAG there was successful attachment and survival. This
Production Solutions GmbH. “For example, their success, alongside previous research, could lead to further
commissioning time on a real machine could be reduced possibilities around the successful growth of stem cells,
up to one-third of the original time.” which is medically exciting due to their ability to change
into different types of cells.Additionally, the technique
could be used to create replica body parts or even whole
organs. These could be incredibly useful to scientists,
allowing them to carry out experiments not possible on
live subjects.

They could even be used to help with medical training,
replacing the need for animal bodies to practice surgery
on. Zhengchu Tan, one of the researchers from the
Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial,
said: "At the moment we have created structures a few
centimetres in size, but ideally we'd like to create a replica
of a whole organ using this technique."The technique uses
solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) to rapidly cool a hydrogel ink
as it is extruded from a 3D printer. After being thawed, the
gel formed is as soft as body tissues, but doesn't collapse
3-D printing creates super soft structures that replicate under its own weight, which has been a problem for
brain and lungs similar techniques in the past. Dr Antonio Elia Forte, one
of the researchers from the Department of Bioengineering
Imperial College London researchers have developed a
new method for creating 3D structures using cryogenics at Imperial, said: "Cryogenics is the novel aspect of this
(freezing) and 3D printing techniques. This builds on technology -- it uses the phase change between liquid
previous research, but is the first to create structures and solid to trigger polymerisation and create super soft
that are soft enough to mimic the mechanical properties objects that can hold their shape. This means that the
of organs such as the brain and lungs. Their technique is technology has a wide variety of possible uses."

Plastics News Januar y 2018 78