Researchers from the Swiss École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have developed a bioprinting process that allows simultaneous production of the entire volume of complex shapes, providing much greater flexibility and faster production than layer-by-layer 3D printing. Details on the process, called volumetric printing, and printer were published in Advanced Materials.

Dublin-based Medtronic plc reported the retirement of CEO Omar Ishrak effective April 26, 2020. In a move that may lead to further changes at the company, the board named Geoff Martha, currently executive vice president of Medtronic's restorative therapies group, Ishrak's successor. Martha edged out the previous frontrunner for the job, Mike Coyle, who heads Medtronic's cardiac and vascular group, the company's largest division.

A head-to-head-to-head trial comparing three top-selling drug-eluting stents (DES) over three years found no statistically significant differences between them in terms of revascularization rates or stent thrombosis, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Biomedical researchers at Vanderbilt University have created "cellular soldiers" that use the body's innate defenses to eliminate cancer cells dispersed during surgery. When used perioperatively, the attack cells kill stray cancer cells and keep them from forming metastases.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh have solved a critical problem in 3D bioprinting of tissue scaffolding. The technique is an advanced version of Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH) that enables 3D printing with collagen to create biological components of unprecedented complexity and detail. A paper detailing use of the technique to create components of the human heart appeared in Science.