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McGill researchers develop the world’s smallest 3D bioprinter to reconstruct vocal cords with hydrogels. Discover how Entag connects medical bioprinting breakthroughs with advanced industrial manufacturing in Egypt.
In a remarkable scientific breakthrough, a team of biomechanical engineers and voice surgeons from McGill University has developed a miniaturized 3D bioprinting device capable of directly printing hydrogel materials onto vocal cords to reconstruct damaged tissues during surgery.
The innovation, featuring a printhead just 2.7mm in diameter, is considered the smallest bioprinter ever created. The team’s findings were recently published in Device, a journal by Cell Press.
According to the researchers, the printer was designed for precision and usability within complex surgical environments. It allows surgeons to manually control real-time printing with micro-level accuracy, even within the narrow and sensitive workspace of the vocal cords.
📊 Studies indicate that between 3% and 9% of people experience voice disorders caused by cysts, polyps, or cancers on the vocal folds, which often require surgical tissue removal. However, post-surgical fibrosis can stiffen the vocal cords and make speech difficult. To prevent this, surgeons typically inject hydrogels into throat tissues — though traditional manual injection often lacks precision.
To solve this challenge, the McGill team designed a flexible, elephant-trunk-inspired bioprinter. The device’s printhead features a fine nozzle at the end of a flexible tube, controlled by tendon-like cables, allowing the surgeon to maneuver with high dexterity. It delivers a hyaluronic acid–based hydrogel in fine 1.2mm lines, ensuring both accuracy and consistency.
The researchers successfully used the printer to create tiny geometric patterns on flat surfaces before testing it on anatomical vocal fold models. The results demonstrated outstanding precision in reconstructing vocal fold geometry after simulated tissue removal.
Lead researcher Luc Mongeau from McGill University noted:
“At first, building a flexible robot smaller than 3mm seemed impossible, but we proved that micrometer-scale precision can be achieved even at this size.”
Currently, the device is manually controlled, but the team is developing a hybrid system that combines manual and automated control. The next step will involve animal testing, paving the way for future clinical trials on human patients. The research is supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Although this innovation lies within the medical research field, it represents a powerful intersection between bioprinting and advanced industrial 3D printing technologies — areas that align closely with Entag’s expertise in digital manufacturing and precision production.
Through its advanced capabilities in 3D Printing (SLA, SLM, FDM) and CNC machining, Entag continues to promote innovation-driven manufacturing and support Egypt’s transition toward on-demand production and digital fabrication. Such breakthroughs highlight how additive manufacturing is no longer limited to industrial prototypes — it’s becoming a bridge between engineering, medicine, and scientific innovation.
Explore Entag’s full range of 3D printing and scanning services:
👉 https://www.entag.co/capabilities/3d-printing-3d-scanning
📚 Source:
https://www.voxelmatters.com/researchers-3d-print-hydrogels-directly-onto-vocal-cords/
