Bioprinting

Bioprinters work in almost the exact same way aslike 3D printers, with one key difference. Instead of delivering materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal or food,but theyinstead deposit layers of biomaterial, that may includeincluding living cells, to build complex structures like blood vessels or skin tissue.

Researchers hope that, in the future, bioprinted bones could be created with enough reliability to underpin intricate spinal reconstruction, and that the bone material could be further improved to enhance its compatibility with cartilage cells.

The required cells ( e.g. kidney cells, skin cells, etc) are taken from a patient and then cultivated. Adult stem cells, which can develop to form the cells required in different tissues, can also be used. The resulting cultured cells are usedreferred to as the bioink. Cells contained in a bioink spheroid are capable of rearranging themselves after printing. For example, experimental blood vessels have been bioprinted using bioink spheroids comprised of an aggregate mix of endothelial, smooth muscle and fibroblast cells. Once placed in position by the bioprint head, and with no technological intervention, the endothelial cells migrate to the inside of the bioprinted blood vessel, the smooth muscle cells move to the middle, and the fibroblasts migrate to the outside.

Cells contained in a bioink spheroid are capable of rearranging themselves after printing. For example, experimental blood vessels have been bioprinted using bioink spheroids comprised of an aggregate mix of endothelial, smooth muscle and fibroblast cells. Once placed in position by the bioprint head, and with no technological intervention, the endothelial cells migrate to the inside of the bioprinted blood vessel, the smooth muscle cells move to the middle, and the fibroblasts migrate to the outside.

Bioprinters work in almost the exact same way as 3D printers, with one key difference. Instead of delivering materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal or food, they deposit layers of biomaterial, that may include living cells, to build complex structures like blood vesselsblood vessels or skin tissue.

OrganovoOrganovo is a company that was set up by a research group lead by Professor Gabor Forgacs from the University of Missouri, and in March 2008 bioprinted functional blood vessels and cardiac tissue using cells obtained from a chicken. Their work relied on a prototype bioprinter with three print heads. The first two of these output cardiac and endothelial cells, while the third dispensed a collagen scaffold -- now termed 'bio-paper' -- to support the cells during printing.

Bioprinters work in almost the exact same way as 3D printers, with one key difference. Instead of delivering materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal or food, they deposit layers of biomaterial, that may include living cells, to build complex structures like blood vessels or skin tissue.

Researchers hope that, in the future, bioprinted bones could be created with enough reliability to underpin intricate spinal reconstruction, and that the bone material could be further improved to enhance its compatibility with cartilage cells.

Organovo is a company that was set up by a research group lead by Professor Gabor Forgacs from the University of Missouri, and in March 2008 bioprinted functional blood vessels and cardiac tissue using cells obtained from a chicken. Their work relied on a prototype bioprinter with three print heads. The first two of these output cardiac and endothelial cells, while the third dispensed a collagen scaffold -- now termed 'bio-paper' -- to support the cells during printing.

The required cells ( e.g. kidney cells, skin cells, etc) are taken from a patient and then cultivated. Adult stem cells, which can develop to form the cells required in different tissues, can also be used. The resulting cultured cells are used as the bioink.

Cells contained in a bioink spheroid are capable of rearranging themselves after printing. For example, experimental blood vessels have been bioprinted using bioink spheroids comprised of an aggregate mix of endothelial, smooth muscle and fibroblast cells. Once placed in position by the bioprint head, and with no technological intervention, the endothelial cells migrate to the inside of the bioprinted blood vessel, the smooth muscle cells move to the middle, and the fibroblasts migrate to the outside.

Progress in drug testing and regenerative medicine could benefit from laboratory-engineered human tissues built of a variety of cell types with precise 3D architecture. Production of greater than millimeter sized human tissues has been limited by a lack of methods for building tissues with embedded life-sustaining vascular networks.