ChE Professor & Chair Tom Webster Featured in Healthzette for Future of 3D Printing in Medicine
ChE Professor & Chair Thomas Webster was featured in the article “Grab that Printed Heart, Would You?” on the website HealthZette. The exciting world of 3D printing is expanding to body parts including kidneys, hands, and hearts. 3D organ printing could change the way transplant surgeries are done, and it could also someday significantly reduce the number of people desperately waiting for life-saving organ donations.
Tom Webster, Professor and Department Chair, Chemical Engineering and Art Zafiropoulo Chair in Engineering is knowledgeable about the connection between biomaterials, 3D printing, and breakthroughs in modern medicine. Webster currently serves as the President of the US Society For Biomaterials, and remarks “The medical community is excited about 3D printing because it can be used to print biomaterials on demand.”
Webster knows that FDA approval and patent law stand in the way before widespread use, but is positive about the implication of 3D printing for healthcare. “We still need FDA approval for many of the biological applications. But the ability to quickly print an organ on demand when someone needs it is sure to improve human health. Many of us believe 3D printing will be all around us.” he says.