ISS Astronauts Make 3D Printed Bandages Made From Their Skin Cells

Astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are now experimenting with 3D printed bandages that might be made from their own skin cells.

ISS has been quite safe for the astronauts it houses for the past 25 years since no significant catastrophic mishaps have occurred within the orbiting space station.

However, this does not rule out the possibility of the astronauts becoming involved in accidents or other medical issues while in orbit around the Earth.

(Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)
A Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft is seen on a monitor after undocking from the International Space Station (ISS), starting the landing of the International space crew, including Japanese space tourists Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, at Mission Control Center in Korolyov, outside Moscow, early on December 20, 2021. - A Japanese billionaire is to return to Earth on December 20 after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space, including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will be shepherded home by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, are set to parachute on Kazakhstan's steppe at 0313 GMT Monday. Their journey marked Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States.

3D Printed Bandage For ISS

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are currently testing a bioink 3D printer that looks like a tape dispenser.

The bandages produced by the portable 3D printer are manufactured from the user's own skin cells.

The German Space Agency, or DLR, launched the ISS experiment in the lalter half of December 2021, according to 3D Printing Industry.

DLR flew the 3D printer into orbit as part of Elon Musk's SpaceX's 24th resupply mission, NASA said.

SpaceX's commercial resupply flight delivered the BioPrint FirstAid Handheld Bioprinter 3D printer to the International Space Station.

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The bandages, which are created from the astronauts' cells, may also aid in the speedier healing of their skin in space.

Michael Becker, the German Space Agency project manager, said that skin injuries suffered by astronauts on space missions "need to be treated immediately and properly."

Mobile bioprinting might considerably expedite the healing process," the German Space Station project manager added. He went on to say that the portable 3D printer may be beneficial on Earth as well.

Meanwhile, the 3D printer is currently undergoing testing. As a result, it is not presently utilizing astronaut skin cells.

Astronauts Test 3D Printed Bandages

ZME Science said leaving our home planet would also mean that the ISS astronauts wouldn't have access to the cutting-edge medical technology that modern hospitals on Earth would have.

For this reason, even civilians traveling to space must pass a thorough medical check and undergo extensive training before departing from Earth. However, astronauts who will be aboard the space station for an extended time will most require this.

Space exploration has come a long way in a short amount of time. As a result, the medical infrastructure must keep up with the surge of astronauts on space missions.