TIME FOR A SNACK - Soon, 3D-printed food for astronauts in space

Firm To Produce Variety Of Digital Recipes With Long Shelf Lives

Cape Canaveral: In a scene right out of Star Trek, a Texas company is developing a 3D food printer for astronauts to create custom meals on the fly.
    With support from Nasa, the firm, Systems and Materials Research Corp of Austin, intends to design, build and test a food printer that can work in space.
    “This project is to demonstrate we can create and change the nutrition of the food and be able to print it in a low-gravity environment,” the company’s research director and lead chemist, David Irvin, said. Three-dimensional printers create solid objects by depositing droplets of material one layer at a time.
    Systems and Materials intends to create nutritionally rich, aesthetically appealing and tasty synthetic food by combining powdered proteins, starches, fats and flavours with water or oil to produce a wide array of digital recipes. All the ingredients are designed for extremely long shelf-lives, making them suitable for long stays in space.
    “The 3D printing system will provide hot and quick food in addition to personalized nutrition, flavor and taste,” the company wrote in its proposal to Nasa.
    “The biggest advantage of 3D printed food technology will be zero waste, which is essential in long-distance space missions,” it added. Ultimately, the company sees food printers as a way to help feed a world population that is estimated to reach 12 billion by the end of the century. The technology may also have implications for the military.
    “A 3D-printed food system can reduce military logistics, disposal waste, increase operational efficiency and mission effectiveness especially during wartime,” the company said.
    “In addition, 3-D printed food can provide optimal nutrient to the soldiers depending on their personal needs and level of physical activities.” Eventually Irvin sees a day when food printers will play a role in everyday diet and nutrition. “The initial plan is to work with Nasa and the astronauts and then as things become commercially viable, we will definitely consider weight loss and weight gain” applications, Irvin said. The company’s six-month, Small Business Innovation Research study contract, worth up to $125,000, is pending, said Nasa spokesman Allard Beutel.

Bio-printer develops splint, saves baby’s life    

The splint was sewn around Kaiba’s airway to expand the bronchus and give it a skeleton to aid proper growth. Over about three years, the splint will be reabsorbed by the body.

Washington: US scientists have saved a 20-month-old toddler’s life by helping him overcome a rare breathing disorder, using an innovative 3D bio-printer to custom-make a splint that is holding his airway open.
    Before the procedure, Kaiba, born with a rare condition that caused life-threatening problem, would stop breathing. His collapsed bronchus blocked the crucial flow of air to his lungs.
    “Quite a few doctors said he had a good chance of not leaving the hospital alive. At that point, we were desperate. Anything that would work, we would take it and run with it,” his mother April Gionfriddo said.
    April and her husband Bryan found hope at the University of Michigan (UM), where a new, bioresorbable device that could help Kaiba was under development. Glenn Green, associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology at the UM and Scott Hollister, professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at U-M obtained emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to create and implant a tracheal splint for Kaiba made from a biopolymer called polycaprolactone.
    On February 9, 2012, the specially-designed splint was placed in Kaiba at CS Mott Children’s Hospital.