Professor Leon Bellan from Vanderbilt University has creatively altered the engineering inside a standard cotton candy machine so that it is able to reproduce artificial body parts made from sugar. Thanks to Bellan's alterations the candy appliance is able to replicate human capillaries with the ability to keep them alive and functional for several days.
Bellan's designs works off of the existing function of a cotton candy machine and its ability to melt sugar and create re-solidified strands. The strands are then slightly altered with Bellan's engineering to be more functional as capillaries, spinning dozens of them in seconds using the cotton candy machine.
While Bellan's candy floss capillaries might seem far-fetched, they could potentially offer insight into 3D-printing organs for viable use in the future of medicine.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Artificial Body Parts
- Using modified cotton candy machines to create functional artificial body parts from sugar.
- Replicating Human Capillaries
- Altering cotton candy machines to spin sugar strands that mimic human capillaries.
- 3d-printing Organs
- Exploring the potential of candy floss capillaries for developing viable 3D-printed organs in the future.
Where This Applies
- Medical Devices
- Integrating modified cotton candy machines into the medical device industry for creating functional artificial body parts.
- Biotechnology
- Applying the technology of spinning sugar strands to replicate human capillaries in the biotechnology field.
- Biomedical Engineering
- Utilizing the insights from candy floss capillaries to advance the development of 3D-printed organs in the field of biomedical engineering.
