Joshua Dong
Stanford, CA
Age 18
For most organ failure patients, no organs are available to save them. Soon, experts think entire organs can be grown. But in order to grow, patient cells need a scaffold. This invention prototyped the first laser technique to 3D print and impart small feature size to robust hydrogels, the most popular material for creating manmade growth scaffolds. To increase crosslinks and strengthen hydrogels, laser exposure is programmed for the highest laser intensity and minimal laser passes. Platform position and velocity are also tailored to prevent surface erosion. Also designed: a predictive model that feeds data to an algorithm during printing. A powerful aspect of this technique is high customizability of hydrogel features to the personal needs of each patient using 3D CAD software.