09-26-2013, 07:36 PM
Recent progress in bioprinting
The previous article gives an overview of the potential applications of bioprinting in medicine. The technique seems almost the stuff of science fiction but recent advances are bringing it ever closer to being a viable alternative in organ transplantation.
This technique may have applications in space as well as on earth. NASA has an interest in studying metabolism of drugs in space and planetary environments. Recent refinements in bioprinting processes are promising in this context. A study from Drexel University in Philadelphia exploited the convergence of solid freeform fabrication technology with microfabrication techniques to make a microscale in vitro device which housed a chamber containing bioprinted three-dimensional liver cell-encapsulated hydrogel-based tissue constructs. These biomimicked the cell’s natural environment and could be demonstrated to display liver cell-specific function. Importantly in terms of the drug metabolism element of the study, the system achieved the necessary dynamic perfusion of the three-dimensional microscale liver analogue.
In a more down-to-earth consideration of the application of bioprinting, a recent study from RWTH Aachen University Hospital in Germany addressed issues impeding use of bioprinting technologies in organ transplantation and regenerative medicine. These include poor material-printing device and substrate combinations, and the relatively small size of printed constructs. This group considered the use of hydrogels. They used stem cell-laden hydrogels and hypothesised that they could be bioprinted when submerged in perfluorotributylamine (C(12)F(27)N), a hydrophobic high-density fluid. They used human mesenchymal stem cells and MG-63 cells and manufactured various three-dimensional structures. They found that these structures remained stable for more than six months and that there were viable cells in the structures 24 h after the printing process, as well as after 21 days in culture. After 14 and 21 days proliferating, viable cells were present. Furthermore, the compressive strength values of the printed hydrogels increased as a consequence of cell proliferation and matrix production during two weeks in culture.
There are therefore many potential applications of bioprinting. Continuing studies are needed to help realise the promise of this technique.
Sources
CHANG, R. et al., 2010. Biofabrication of a three-dimensional liver micro-organ as an in vitro drug metabolism model. Biofabrication, 2(4), pp. 045004-045004
DUARTE CAMPOS, D.,F. et al., 2013. Three-dimensional printing of stem cell-laden hydrogels submerged in a hydrophobic high-density fluid. Biofabrication, 5(1), pp. 015003-015003
The previous article gives an overview of the potential applications of bioprinting in medicine. The technique seems almost the stuff of science fiction but recent advances are bringing it ever closer to being a viable alternative in organ transplantation.
This technique may have applications in space as well as on earth. NASA has an interest in studying metabolism of drugs in space and planetary environments. Recent refinements in bioprinting processes are promising in this context. A study from Drexel University in Philadelphia exploited the convergence of solid freeform fabrication technology with microfabrication techniques to make a microscale in vitro device which housed a chamber containing bioprinted three-dimensional liver cell-encapsulated hydrogel-based tissue constructs. These biomimicked the cell’s natural environment and could be demonstrated to display liver cell-specific function. Importantly in terms of the drug metabolism element of the study, the system achieved the necessary dynamic perfusion of the three-dimensional microscale liver analogue.
In a more down-to-earth consideration of the application of bioprinting, a recent study from RWTH Aachen University Hospital in Germany addressed issues impeding use of bioprinting technologies in organ transplantation and regenerative medicine. These include poor material-printing device and substrate combinations, and the relatively small size of printed constructs. This group considered the use of hydrogels. They used stem cell-laden hydrogels and hypothesised that they could be bioprinted when submerged in perfluorotributylamine (C(12)F(27)N), a hydrophobic high-density fluid. They used human mesenchymal stem cells and MG-63 cells and manufactured various three-dimensional structures. They found that these structures remained stable for more than six months and that there were viable cells in the structures 24 h after the printing process, as well as after 21 days in culture. After 14 and 21 days proliferating, viable cells were present. Furthermore, the compressive strength values of the printed hydrogels increased as a consequence of cell proliferation and matrix production during two weeks in culture.
There are therefore many potential applications of bioprinting. Continuing studies are needed to help realise the promise of this technique.
Sources
CHANG, R. et al., 2010. Biofabrication of a three-dimensional liver micro-organ as an in vitro drug metabolism model. Biofabrication, 2(4), pp. 045004-045004
DUARTE CAMPOS, D.,F. et al., 2013. Three-dimensional printing of stem cell-laden hydrogels submerged in a hydrophobic high-density fluid. Biofabrication, 5(1), pp. 015003-015003
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