3D printing is a very familiar concept to most people, the definition of it is to make a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model by laying down many thin layers of the given material. As the technology advances, 3D printing now has more usage in many different areas, the materials can be used to do the printing also expand. Bioprinting is one of the innovations in 3D printing, it uses the printing technology to produce usable tissue of human body for medical purpose.
The idea of bioprinting originated in 2002, Professor Makoto Nakamura realized that the droplets of ink in a standard printer are about the same size as human cells. By 2008, he has created a working bioprinter that can print tubes similar to blood vessels. The bioprinter created in 2008 has three print heads, two of which print cardiac and endothelial cells, the other one print “bio-paper” that support the cells during printing. Most bioprinters have the similar function to support the cells during printing, some produce a dissolvable gel to support and protect cells during printing. The material used in 3D printing does not always have to be actual living cells, in can be just materials that incorporate with human cells so it can be accepted by the human body. In fact, researchers in University of California use C6H12O6 as the bioprinting material, it acts as a filament that will be covered with cells. It is a perfect material that is not toxic to the human body and will keep its structure as it hit air temperature.
Although most 3D bioprinting is in its experimental state, there is some recent success. In March of 2017, researchers from Sahlgrenska Academy and the Chalmers University of Technology had printed structure made from human cartilage cells on the backs of live mice. In May, the team of researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy has managed to generate cartilage tissue without the use of mice testing. The team used cartilage cells harvested from patients who underwent knee surgery, and the cells were rejuvenated into stem cells, which have the potential to develop into many different types of cells. The stem cells were then expanded in the composition of cellulose that put into the 3d bioprinter and printed into the wanted structure. Following the printing, growth factor was add that caused the structure to differentiate correctly in order to form cartilage tissue.
The fact that stem cells survive going through the process of 3D printing is a success by itself. Due to the fact that it can be manipulated into different types of cells, with the right growth factor and structure, functioning tissue or even organs can be printed. And it can be used in organ transplant, patients will no longer need to wait for an organ donor, but printed their own organ with their body tissue. 3D printing is already playing its role in the medical world right now, it creates a more natural cell interaction than the traditional 2D method, with better predictable value and higher clinical relevance. It also helps speed up drug development, improves the safety and efficiency. 3D printed cells also relief the experiment on inhumane animal testing.
How do you see Bioprinting changing the American medical scene? How much will bioprinted organs, etc. cost a citizen? Will they be less costly than the current donation system? Are bioprinted organs as reliable as transplanted ones?
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DeleteBioprinting organs transplant should cost much less than the current donation system, because the material used in Bioprinting is not very expensive and one printer can be used print thousands of organs, and once they mastered the technology, people who need an organ transplant will be able to get a printed organ with materials like their own stem cells. As for the reliability of the organs, they haven’t successfully print or transplant the organs to any people, but because the cells are taken from the patient's body, there will not be Transplant rejection.
DeleteI find this topic very fascinating because if this technology have been approve that it will work 100 percent people doesn't have to die because they can no longer wait for a healthy organ that can be transplant into there body. Moreover, it will also save many healthy people life that have been force to remove there organ so that it can be sold in the black market.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the name of the bio printing material C6H12O6? Which type of organs have been successfully printed out by scientist? What type of gel is use to support the cell when it is printing out?
The organs that have been successfully printed include skin, vascular, blood vessels, they all have a flat structure, the bladder has also been successfully printed, which has a hollowed structure. More complex organs that are consist of a solid cellular structure are still being researched. The gel used is just probably to support and grow the cells, some printing does not need gel, it depends on the types of organs printed.
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