Bioprinting
3D printing has become increasingly popular in the engineering space for a variety of uses. We see it being used in Robotics, Architecture and even in Automobile manufacturing. But one unimaginable and incredible development has been its use in the field of medicine for bioprinting. The ability of being able to print organs and tissues can significantly change healthcare as we know it, reducing the burden on organ donation lists and even making it affordable. So how is this incredible feat achieved? To get into that, let us first understand more about 3D printing.
Much like printing with ink on paper, 3D printing (also known as ‘additive manufacturing’) prints out the required 3 Dimensional object layer by layer. It creates a 3D object from a digital file. If one were to slice a finished 3D printed object open, one can see each of the thin layers, a bit like rings in a tree trunk. The key advantage of this process is that it makes it easier and environmentally friendly to construct complex shapes, while even using less materials than in conventional manufacturing techniques. 3D printing makes it easier to create customised and personalised products and what is even better is that it can print with pretty much any material: plastic, obviously, but also metal, powder, concrete, liquid, even chocolate!
In 1981, Dr. Hideo Kodama developed one of the first rapid prototyping devices that built items layer by layer out of resin that could be polymerised by UV light. This invention gave rise to the first 3D printer.
We now come back to the marvel that is bioprinting. Bioprinting is a branch of 3D printing, which also prints layer by layer in the same way normal 3D printers do, except instead of using plastic or metal, it uses a material called bio ink. Bio ink is a printable material that contains living cells. The bulk of many bioinks are water rich molecules called hydrogels and mixed into those are millions of living cells, as well as various chemicals that encourage cells to communicate and grow. Some bioinks include a single type of cell, while ethers combine several different types to produce more complex structures.
Bioprinted organs could be a revolution in transplantation and regenerative medicine. It opens up for possibilities like simply printing a compatible organ for patients instead of going through a tedious process of finding a matching donor and also hoping the organ indeed does match.
How are tissues bio-printed:
Step 1: The cells required for creating the required organ are extracted from a donor or the patient themselves.
Step 2: The bio ink gets loaded into a printing chamber and gets pushed through a round nozzle, rarely wider than 400 microns in diameter, attached to a print head.
Step 3: A computerised image guides the placement of the strands, either onto a flat surface or into a liquid bath that will hold the structure in place.
Step 4: After printing, some bio inks will stiffen immediately, while others might need UV light or an additional chemical or physical process to stabilise the structure.
The future possibilities of this technology are immense, where it can go beyond printing for transplants and into creating superhuman features. However, currently the field is held back from it as replicating complex biochemical environments of major organs is a steep challenge.
One of the most formidable challenges is how to supply oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in a full-size organ. This explains why the greatest successes so far have been with structures that are flat or hollow, and why researchers are busy developing way to incorporate blood vessels into bioprinted tissues.
While the field has not reached capacity to print complex organs like the heart yet, simpler tissues including blood vessels and tubes responsible for nutrient and waste exchange are already in the works. But once we do overcome these challenges, how far do you think humanity can go? Can we create custom features and organs, like anti-ageing technology?
