Schlagwort: 3d bioprinting

  • UCLA Bioengineer Develops SLA 3D Printer That Produces Complex Artificial Tissues

    UCLA Bioengineer Develops SLA 3D Printer That Produces Complex Artificial Tissues

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Researchers from UCLA have developed a SLA-based bioprinter that is able to create therapeutic biomaterials from multiple materials. This advancement could potentially be used for on-demand printing of complex artificial tissues for use in transplants and other surgeries.

    Body tissues are highly complex and made of various different cell types, and this makes it a notoriously challenging thing to recreate in the laboratory. But advancements in bioprinting technology is helping to dissolve the difficulty that researchers have faced for years. The latest example of how 3D printing is changing the medical landscape comes from the University of California, Los Angeles.

    A research team led by Ali Khademhosseini, a bioengineering professor at UCLA, has developed a new technique to 3D print more complex and therapeutic biomaterials from a range of ink-based materials. The development could signal a significant step towards enhancing on-demand access to bio-tissues for transplants and other surgical procedures.

    “Tissues are wonderfully complex structures, so to engineer artificial versions of them that function properly, we have to recreate their complexity,” said Khademhosseini. “Our new approach offers a way to build complex biocompatible structures made from different materials.”

    The research consists of using an adapted stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer to recreate the complexities of actual tissues in a body which often consist of multiple cell types. Khademhosseini’s team is reportedly the first to utilize multi-material SLA technology for such a bioprinting application.


    Schematic of the research team’s bioprinter. (Image: Advanced Materials)

    New Stereolithography Bioprinting Technique Can Recreate Muscle-like Tissues

    The modified 3D printer consists of a custom microfluidic chip with numerous inlets to print various materials. It also has a digital micromirror, which is an assembly of millions of small mirrors that can move independently.

    To grow the tissues, his team is using various hydrogel-based materials. The micromirrors are being employed to manipulate the light that hits the surface with illuminated areas, indicating the outline of the soon-to-be-3D printed object.

    This light source also activates the bonding of the molecular materials to ensure that a solid material is formed from the gel. With each step, the micromirrors change shape to direct light to the next area that will be printed. Although the researchers used four types of bio-inks in their demonstration device, they state that as many inks as necessary could be added.

    At first, the research team used the process to produce simple shapes like pyramids. They eventually progressed to complex 3D structures that were able to mimic muscle tissues and muscle-skeleton connective tissues.

    During testing, the team was also able to recreate muscle-like tissue as well as tumors and blood vessels, which could potentially be used as biological models to study cancer. Furthermore, they’ve already implanted these bioprinted structures into rodents to test their viability, and found that the tissues were not rejected by the hosts.

    This development also highlights another important area for bioprinted tissues: research. Indeed, by being able to 3D print organs and even cancerous tissues on-demand, researchers will be able to enhance their findings and develop better medical solutions for those in need.

    The final study, entitled “Microfluidics‐Enabled Multimaterial Maskless Stereolithographic Bioprinting”, was recently published in Advanced Materials.

    Source: UCLA

    License: The text of „UCLA Bioengineer Develops SLA 3D Printer That Produces Complex Artificial Tissues“ by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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  • Nano-3D Printing Technology Helps Develop Improved Biochips

    Nano-3D Printing Technology Helps Develop Improved Biochips

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The nanoprinting method enables printing of multiple molecules without damaging existing molecule layers – a perfect match if you want to fabricate delicate biochips.

    Researchers at the City University of New York’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) and Hunter College have come up with a novel solution to print biochips. They are using a nano-scale 3D printing process which combines gold-plated pyramids, LED light, and photochemical reactions to affix organic materials on top of biochips.

    The process is known as tip-based lithography. It works by covering polymer pyramids in gold and mounting them onto an atomic force microscope. The size of the arrays is 1cm2. They contain thousands of little pyramids which have holes to enable light to pass through. In return, this ensures that light reaches certain surface areas on the chip beneath them.

    Solving the single molecule challenge of tip-based lithography

    The technology can be used in biomedical science to disable certain organic reagents on the chip surface without causing too much damage to them.

    However, in the past, the process has been limited to just a single molecule.

    The team at ASRC now seem to have solved this issue. They used microfluidics to expose the biochips to a combination of chemicals. Subsequently, they shone light through the pyramids and monitored the light’s reaction with the molecules. They found that the molecules adhered to the chip when light was shown on them.

    Traditionally, tip-based lithography systems can overpower a chip and destroy the molecules. However, by using beam-pen lithography which traps and channels the light through small apexes, they were able to avoid this issue. As a result, the researchers could more effortlessly control the light. Furthermore, they were able to protect the organic materials already printed onto the biochip this way.

    According to lead researcher and associate professor at ASRC’s Nanoscience Initiative, Adam Braunschweig, the new method could help scientists understand cells and biological pathways.

    The technology should also ease the study of disease development and help explore issues such as bioterrorism agents.


    Beam-pen lithography in progress. (Image: IEEE Spectrum)

    Source: IEEE Spectrum

    License: The text of „Nano-3D Printing Technology Helps Develop Improved Biochips“ by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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  • 3D Jet Writing Technique Provides Better Understanding of How Cancer Spreads

    3D Jet Writing Technique Provides Better Understanding of How Cancer Spreads

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Researchers from Purdue University and University of Michigan have developed a new 3D jet writer that allows them to print high-resolution polymer as microtissues. These tiny tissue structures are able to facilitate cancer cell growth, allowing for improved drug development and testing.

    A team of researchers at Purdue University and University of Michigan have developed a 3D jet writer that can print high-resolution polymer as microtissues. Since the device is capable of 3D printing on an extremely small scale, the team is able to accurately model pore sizes and recreate a lifelike cancerous environment.

    This breakthrough could offer significant opportunities for drug development and testing. Led by Luis Solorio, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, the research team is aiming to provide better insight into how certain drugs could prevent cancer growth. Moreover, these structures can also improve our understanding of how cancer cells spread throughout the body.

    Various researchers have previously experimented with 3D printing to create materials and structures that mimic biological tissues. However, few have been able to achieve the correct porosity to nurture cancer cells to grow and ultimately thrive.


    Conceptual drawing of the 3D jet writer. (Image: Purdue University)

    3D Jet Writer Produces Small-Scale Polymer Structures That Mimic Cancerous Environments

    Essentially, 3D jet writing is a more evolved version of electrospinning. With electrospinning, the technique uses a charged syringe with a polymer solution to draw out fiber. Subsequently, researchers are able to arrange the fiber to form a scaffold that enables cell growth.

    The 3D jet writer developed by the researchers acts similarly to a 3D printer, creating micro tissues from a polymer. However, it does so on a much smaller scale, mimicking the size of pores more effectively. In return, cancer cells can wrap around the structure and grow the same way as they would within a real body.

    The team has already tested the viability of these polymer structures in mice. They were able to encourage cancer cell growth in tissues of the subjects, even in areas where cancer would not normally develop. In essence, the experiment demonstrates that the polymer scaffold provides a viable environment for cells to grow.

    In the future, the researchers hope that they can utilize the new technique to develop and screen anti-cancer drugs more effectively.

    “Ideally, we could use our system as an unbiased drug screening platform where we could screen thousands of compounds, hopefully get data within a week, and get it back to a clinician so that it’s all within a relevant time frame,” states Solorio.

    The research paper, entitled “3D Jet Writing: Functional Microtissues Based on Tessellated Scaffold Architectures”, was recently published in Advanced Materials.


    Digital images can be converted into 3D scaffolds which define areas for cell growth.

    Source: Purdue University


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  • Researchers Develop Bioprinting Method to Recreate Biological Structures From Cells and Molecules

    Researchers Develop Bioprinting Method to Recreate Biological Structures From Cells and Molecules

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have developed a 3D bioprinting method that enables the creation of biological structures from cells and molecules that are commonly found in natural tissues.

    From human skin to ears made from a patient’s own cells, 3D bioprinting has changed the landscape of medical innovation in some major ways. It seems as if new breakthroughs involving biofabrication are occurring on a weekly basis, and this week is no different…

    Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have recently devised a new 3D biofabrication technique that uses cells and molecules to create constructs that resemble biological structures.

    The method consists of placing structures into an ink that resembles the natural environment of cells. This allows the cells to grow and behave exactly as they would in a body.

    Consequently, researchers are able to monitor cells more closely and observe how they may adapt to certain environments. It would also guide further research into finding out how cancer cells grow. Scientists could observe immune cells closely to monitor their interaction with other cells. Furthermore, the results of such studies could lead to the development of new and improved drugs.

    Professor Alvaro Mata, one of the leaders on the project at QMUL, explained:

    “The technique opens the possibility to design and create biological scenarios like complex and specific cell environments. can be used in different fields such as tissue engineering by creating constructs that resemble tissues or in vitro models that can be used to test drugs in a more efficient manner.”


    Structures made from gel via biofabrication. (Image: Clara Hedegaard)

    New Biofabrication Method Creates Biological Structures that Mimic Body Parts and Regenerate Tissues

    As part of the method, the researchers combined molecular self-assembly with additive manufacturing. They were able to assemble molecules into complex structures.

    In addition, the biofabrication technique allows the QMUL researchers to control structures and assemblies digitally. This allows the team to mimic body parts and also regenerate tissues.

    Generally, 3D printable inks are limited in their ability to activate cells. But by including full control over the 3D printed structure at the microscopic level, the technique overcomes these challenges.

    Lead author of the paper and current PhD student at QMUL, Clara Hedegaard, adds:

    “This method enables the possibility to build 3D structures by printing multiple types of biomolecules capable of assembling into well defined structures at multiple scales. Because of this, the self-assembling ink provides an opportunity to control the chemical and physical properties during and after printing, which can be tuned to stimulate cell behavior.”

    The research, entitled “Hydrodynamically Guided Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Peptide–Protein Bioinks”, is published in Advanced Functional Materials.

    Source: Phys.org

    Website: LINK

  • Researchers 3D Bioprint the First Ears Made From Childen’s Own Cells

    Researchers 3D Bioprint the First Ears Made From Childen’s Own Cells

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    A team of Chinese plastic surgeons and tissue engineers have devised a method to 3D print cells which assemble into a replica of a patient’s ear.

    Five children suffering from unilateral microtia in China are the first patients to receive newly grafted ears made from their own cells. Tissue engineers made the ears by combining cell culture methods with 3D printing.

    Unilateral microtia is a deformity which results in deformed outer ears. Up until now, the only available treatment had been plastic surgery using a patient’s rib cartilage to form an ear shape. However, this relied on a surgeon’s expertise and skills to accurately shape the outer ear.

    Thanks to 3D bioprinting, researchers have previously been able to create replicas of body parts and organs. Now, for the first time, researchers have grown ear-shaped cartilage in vitro (i.e. outside of a body).


    The 3D Bioprinting Process in Detail

    As described in a paper published by EBioMedicine, the team first took CT scans of the patients’ healthy ears. Subsequently, they created a mirror image of the ear using 3DPro CAD software.

    The data was then used to create the 3D printed model which was cast as a mold using silicone and clay. The ear scaffold was cast with PGA, a biodegradable material and reinforced.

    The team then isolated chondrocyte cells from the malformed ear tissue. Once the cells had grown to sufficient quantities, they were placed across the molds and incubated to nurture replication and growth.

    It took 12 weeks for the cells to extend and form collagen and elastin fiber with the mold lattice.

    At the same time, the PGA material degraded as the cells spread out. The finished implants consisted mostly of the children’s native tissues.

    Following the surgery to place the ear, the patients were monitored over 2.5 years. Remarkably, the authors found that the chondrocytes remained healthy and intact. However, not all their trials went as planned. The authors admit that one of the patient’s new ear produced less cartilage, whilst another received a less aesthetically pleasing ear.

    Despite these shortcomings, the new technique offers promise that it could be a viable method in future prosthetics.


    Website: LINK