3D BIOPRINTING

Whats it..?
3D bio-printingis a regenerative science and
process for generating spatially-controlled cell
patterns in 3D, where cell function and viability are
preserved within the printed construct. Using 3D
bio-printing for fabricating biological constructs
typically involves dispensing cells onto a
biocompatible scaffold using a successive layer-bylayer approach to generate tissue-like threedimensional structures.

Why..?

Each day 79 receive

organ each day while
18 will die from a lack
of one
Most needed organs
are kidneys, livers,
lungs, hearts.

Conceptual Bio-printer

Bioprinter
The idea of 3d printers are from inkjet printers, driven by a motor,
moves in horizontal strips across a sheet of paper. As it moves,
ink stored in a cartridge sprays through tiny nozzles and falls on
the page in a series of fine drops. The limitation of inkjet printers
is that they only print in two dimensions -- along the x- and yaxes. A 3-D printer overcomes this by adding a mechanism to
print along an additional axis, usually labeled the z-axis in
mathematical applications. This mechanism is anelevatorthat
moves a platform up and down. Fill the cartridge with plastic, and
the printer will output a three-dimensional plastic widget. Fill it
with cells, and it will output a mass of cells.

Continues
Conceptually, bio-printing is really that
simple. In reality, it's a bit more challenging
because an organ contains more than one
type of material. And because the material is
living tissue, it needs to receive nutrients and
oxygen. To accommodate this, bioprinting
companies have modified their 3-D printers
to better serve the medical community.

Bio-printer Components
If you were to pull apart a bio-printer, as we'd love to do, you'd
encounter these basic parts.

Print head mount

On a bio-printer, the print heads are
attached to a metal plate running along
a horizontal track. The x-axis motor
propels the metal plate (and the print
heads) from side to side, allowing
material to be deposited in either
horizontal direction.

Elevator
A metal track running vertically at the
back of the machine, the elevator,
driven by the z-axis motor, moves the
print heads up and down. This makes it
possible to stack successive layers of
material, one on top of the next

Platform
A shelf at the bottom of the machine
provides a platform for the organ to rest on
during the production process. The platform
may support a scaffold, a petri dish or a well
plate, which could contain up to 24 small
depressions to hold organ tissue samples for
pharmaceutical testing. A third motor moves
the platform front to back along the y-axis

Reservoirs
The reservoirs attach to the print
heads and hold the biomaterial to be
deposited during the printing process.
These are equivalent to the cartridges in
your inkjet printer.

Print heads/syringes
A pump forces material from the
reservoirs down through a small nozzle
or syringe, which is positioned just
above the platform. As the material is
extruded, it forms a layer on the
platform.

Triangulation sensor
A small sensor tracks the tip of
each print head as it moves along the
x-,
yand
z-axes.
Software
communicates with the machine so the
precise location of the print heads is
known throughout the process..

Micro-gel
Unlike the ink you load into your printer at home, bioink is alive, so it needs food, water and oxygen to
survive. This nurturing environment is provided by a
micro-gel think gelatin enriched with vitamins, proteins
and other life-sustaining compounds. Researchers
either mix cells with the gel before printing or extrude
the cells from one print head, micro-gel from the other.
Either way, the gel helps the cells stay suspended and
prevents them from settling and clumping.

Bioink
Organs are made of tissues, and tissues are made of cells. To print an
organ, a scientist must be able to deposit cells specific to the organ she
hopes to build. For example, to create a liver, she would start with
hepatocytes -- the essential cells of a liver -- as well as other supporting
cells. These cells form a special material known asbioink, which is placed
in the reservoir of the printer and then extruded through the print head.
As the cells accumulate on the platform and become embedded in the
microgel, they assume a three-dimensional shape that resembles
ahuman organ.
Alternatively, the scientist could start with a bioink consisting ofstem
cells, which, after the printing process, have the potential to differentiate
into the desired target cells. Either way, bioink is simply a medium, and a
bioprinter is an output device

How do they print an organ.

First, doctors make CT orMRI scans of the

desired organ.
Next, they load the images into a
computer and build a corresponding 3-D
blueprint of the structure using CAD
software.
Combining this 3-D data with histological
information collected from years of
microscopic analysis of tissues, scientists
build a slice-by-slice model of the
patient's organ. Each slice accurately
reflects how the unique cells and the
surrounding cellular matrix fit together in
three-dimensional space.

How do they print an organ.

After that, it's a matter of hitting File > Print, which

sends the modeling data to the bio-printer.
The printer outputs the organ one layer at a time,
using bio-ink and gel to create the complex
multicellular tissue and hold it in place.
Finally, scientists remove the organ from the printer
and place it in an incubator, where the cells in the bioink enjoy some warm, quiet downtime to start living
and working together

Last step and the challenging

one!
The final step of this process -- making printed organ cells behave
like native cells -- has been challenging. Some scientists recommend
that bio-printing be done with a patient's stem cells. After being
deposited in their required three-dimensional space, they would then
differentiate into mature cells, with all of the instructions about how to
"behave." Then, of course, there's the issue of getting blood to all of
the cells in a printed organ. Currently, bio-printing doesn't offer
sufficient resolutions to create tiny, single-cell-thick capillaries. But
scientists have printed larger blood vessels, and as the technology
improves, the next step will befully functional replacement organs,
complete with the vascularization necessary to remain alive and
healthy.

The printing process

Benefits
Artificial organ personalized using patients
own cells
No DNA rejection
Eliminate need for immunosuppressant drugs
needed after a regular organ transplant
Eliminate organ donation
No waiting period

Disadvantages
Printers cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars
Possibly more expensive than regular
organ transplant
Use of stem cells is still controversial
Cost of using stem cells
Not successfully created yet

3d bio-printing projects
Just look through some bioprinting projects which gonna
going to change the world

Human heart
Researchers at the University
of Louisville in Louisville,
Kentucky
said
they
havesuccessfully
printed
parts of a human heartusing
by
printing
with
a
combination of human fat
cells and collagen.

Human face
A man from Wales in the United
Kingdom was in a motorcycle
accident in 2012 and he has now
received 3D printed implants on
his face that successfully fixed
injuries
he
sustained. The
project was done by theCentre
for
Applied
Reconstructive
Technologies in Surgery.

Liver tissue
In January,Organovo successfully
printedsamples of human liver tissue
that were distributed to an outside
laboratory for testing. The company is
aiming for commercial sales later this
year. The sets of 24 samples take
about 30 minutes to produce.
According to the company, the
printed tissue responds to drugs
similarly to a regular human liver.

Liver tissue
Scientists at Wake Forest School of
Medicinedesigned a printer that can directly
print skin cells onto burn wounds. The
traditional treatment for severe burns is to
cover them with healthy skin harvested from
another part of the body, but often times
there isn't enough. With this new machine, a
scanner determines the size and depth of
the skin, and layers the appropriate number
of cells on the wound. Doctors only need a
patch of skin one-tenth of the size of the
wound to grow enough for this process.

Presented by : Muhammed Anees PK