Look at a 3D printed texture that looks like a tongue

British scientists led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh

The printed structure of synthetic silicone mimics thetopology, elasticity and wettability of the tongue surface. These factors play an important role in how food or saliva interactsWith the tongue, it can affect mouthfeel, swallowing, speech, and food intake.

The printed language will help developers validate newly developed products and speed up development processes without the need for early human testing. 

In particular, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing has created significant challenges for such sensory tests and consumer tests.Artificial language will also help with this. 

Reconstructing the surface of the average human language presents unique architectural challenges.Hundreds of small kidney-like structures called papillae give the tongue its characteristic rough texture, which, combined with the soft nature of the tissue, createsDifficult terrain. 

Efren Andablo-Reyes, doctor and lead author of the study

The team made silicone impressions of the surfacesthe language of fifteen adults. The impressions were optically scanned in 3D to show the size of the papillae, their density and the average roughness of the tongues. 

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