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In a new research report, detailed in the Journal of Advanced Materials, researchers have discovered a way of creating hydrogels that are “extremely tough and robust”, while also being compatible with the encapsulation of cells within the structure itself.

"The innovation is really about the material — a new ink for 3-D printing of biocompatible tough hydrogel,” explained Xuanhe Zhao, MIT associate professor of mechanical engineering and one of the co-authors of the paper, titled 3D Printing of Highly Stretchable and Tough Hydrogels into Complex, Cellularized Structures. “Specifically, a composite of two different biopolymers. Each [material] individually is very weak and brittle, but once you put them together, it becomes very tough and strong. It’s like steel-reinforced concrete."