3D printing with light and sound could let us copy human organs

A rapid form of 3D printing that uses sound and light could one day produce copies of human organs made from a person’s own cells, allowing for a range of drug tests.

Traditional 3D printers build from a hard base, layer by layer. This is time consuming and risks damage to printed objects when they are removed from the printing bed. David Collins at the University of Melbourne and his colleagues have taken a different approach, which they call “dynamic interface printing”.

The new printer is essentially a…