With the demonstration of a new type of more rapid 3-D bioprinting, University at Buffalo engineers have taken a step closer to the fabrication of whole organs.
In a video of the process, a hand emerges over a matter of seconds from a vat of liquid almost as if out of a science fiction movie. In reality, the video was sped up from its original duration of 19 minutes, but even this is a quantum leap ahead of the six or so hours such a process previously took.
“The technology we’ve developed is 10-50 times faster than the industry standard, and it works with large sample sizes that have been very difficult to achieve previously,” said co-lead author Ruogang Zhao, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering.
The new method involves a 3-D printing technology called stereolithography and hydrogels. Hydrogels have applications in wound dressings, contact lenses and hygiene products, as well as scaffolds for tissue engineering.
Scaffolds are particularly important in 3-D bioprinting, and the team has spent a great deal of its time and effort on these in order to come up with an optimised solution for its fast, accurate 3-D printing technique.
“Our method allows for the rapid printing of centimeter-sized hydrogel models. It significantly reduces part deformation and cellular injuries caused by the prolonged exposure to the environmental stresses you commonly see in conventional 3-D printing methods,” said the other co-lead author, Chi Zhou, PhD, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering.
This method is readily suited for the printing of cells with embedded networks of blood vessels. It is expected that this emerging technology will be key to producing whole 3-D printed organs and tissue.
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Nanditha Anandakrishnan et al, Fast Stereolithography Printing of Large‐Scale Biocompatible Hydrogel Models, Advanced Healthcare Materials (2021). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202002103
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-rapid-3d-method-3d-printed.html
