feature storY
By hermione wilson
printing seems at first glance to be fantastically futuristic, akin Instead of T hree-dimensional to Star Trek’s replicator technology. Just press a button and out pops a piece of art, a household object, maybe even a whole building. Of course, the process is much more than that, but the possibilities of this technology are seemingly endless. ink on paper, complicated There is no domain – be it artistic, mechanical, or medical – where 3D printing is not and has not already made a major impact. scientists are applicable When it comes to 3D bioprinting, an even greater layer of complexity is added. To a plastic construct is one thing, but when the ink being used is comprised of printing cells print human tissue cells, the building blocks of life itself, that is something else altogether. In the quest to repair and regenerate our bodies, life science research has turned recent innovations like 3D bioprinting for answers. Also known as additive and tissues tomanufacturing, 3D printing technology has made it possible to rehabilitate damaged body parts such as joints, skin and other important components. destined to the bio in 3D bioprinting repair the ItPutting is important to make the distinction between 3D printing and 3D bioprinting. 3D printing, which has led, in the context of medical research and clinical practice, to innovations as life-size medical models and custom-fitted prosthetics, involves human body such synthetic materials. 3D bioprinting, on the other hand, involves living cells and tissues.
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“[Bioprinting] refers to spatially organizing biomaterials in physiologically meaningful ways that mimic intact tissues,” says Dr. Axel Guenther. His research team, at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, has developed a novel 3D bioprinting platform called the PrintAlive Bioprinter. The device has been specifically designed to produce readily handleable skin grafts used for treating burn injuries. The Guenther Research Group’s specialty is microfluidic systems, which is why their bioprinter differs somewhat from other models. Unlike other 3D bioprinters that are like an inkjet printer, the PrintAlive uses a micro-fabricated printer cartridge that extrudes a liquid biopolymer in an organized pattern that mimics the structure of organic tissue. The team is currently focused on printing skin and is collaborating with Dr. Marc Jeschke, who heads the Sunnybrook Hospital burn unit. Not only is the PrintAlive device considerably smaller than other 3D printers (less than a foot wide and weighing about one pound), it works much faster. “The rate limiting step is not the printing anymore,” Guenther says. “We can form a squaremetre’s worth of [printed tissue] within an hour or two.” The process slows down at the stage where they populate the printed tissue with biological cells. “We’re quite convinced that [the PrintAlive device] could be applicable to quite a variety of different researchers, as well ultimately clinicians because it’s so simple,” Guenther says.
Vascularisation
Skin today, custom-made organs tomorrow? There are some road blocks to overcome before major internal organs like the heart and kidneys can be grown for transplantation, says Dr. Ibrahim Ozbolat, Associate Professor at Pennsylvania State University’s Engineering Science and Mechanics department.