Bioprinting organs

Author:

T. Boland.

History:

3D printing for producing a cellular construct was first introduced in 2003, when Thomas Boland of Clemson University patented the use of inkjet printing for cells. This process utilized a modified spotting system for the deposition of cells into organized 3D matrices placed on a substrate.
Organs that have been successfully printed and implemented in a clinical setting are either flat, such as skin, vascular, such as blood vessels, or hollow, such as the bladder. When artificial organs are prepared for transplantation, they are often produced with the recipient’s own cells.
More complex organs are undergoing research; these organs include the heart, pancreas, and kidneys. Estimates for when such organs can be introduced as a viable medical treatment vary.

In 2013, the company Organovo produced a human liver using 3D bioprinting, though it is not suitable for transplantation, and has primarily been used as a medium for drug testing.

Example:

Organs that have been successfully printed and implemented in a clinical setting are skin, blood vessels and the bladder.

Description:

3D bioprinting is the process of generating spatially-controlled cell patterns using 3D printing technologies, where cell function and viability are preserved within the printed construct. 3D printing allows for the layer-by-layer construction of a particular organ structure to form a cell scaffold. This can be followed by the process of cell seeding, in which cells of interest are pipetted directly onto the scaffold structure. Additionally, the process of integrating cells into the printable material itself, instead of performing seeding afterwards, has been explored.

3D bioprinting is being applied to regenerative medicine to address the need for tissues and organs suitable for transplantation. 3D bioprinting has already been used for the generation and transplantation of several tissues, including multilayered skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and cartilaginous structures. Other applications include developing high-throughput 3D-bioprinted tissue models for research, drug discovery and toxicology.

Additions and Criticism:

Compared with non-biological printing, 3D bioprinting involves additional complexities, such as the choice of materials, cell types, growth and differentiation factors, and technical challenges related to the sensitivities of living cells and the construction of tissues. Addressing these complexities requires the integration of technologies from the fields of engineering, biomaterials science, cell biology, physics and medicine.

Publications:

• Mironov, Vladimir, Nuno Reis, and Brian Derby. «Review: bioprinting: a beginning." Tissue engineering 12.4 (2006): 631–634.
• Derby, Brian. «Bioprinting: inkjet printing proteins and hybrid cell-containing materials and structures." J. Mater. Chem. 18.47 (2008): 5717–5721.
• Murphy, Sean v. , and Anthony Atala. «3D bioprinting of tissues and organs." Nature biotechnology 32.8 (2014): 773–785.
• Cui, Xiaofeng, et al. «Direct human cartilage repair using three-dimensional bioprinting technology." Tissue Engineering Part A 18.11–12 (2012): 1304–1312.