Researchers from University of Oxford have been working to overcome some of the major challenges of 3D printing living tissues and have just published a report of how they were able to create complex, multi-cellular structures that stay viable and are able to structurally support themselves. This high density bioprinting process is also cheap, reliable, and can be adapted to work with different cell types and target structures, perhaps opening the door to new therapies for a wide variety of diseases and conditions.
In order for the living cells to be able to combine into a coherent structure instead of a messy pile, the researchers bunched the cells into separate droplets each contained within an oily shell. These individual units can be placed next to and on top of each other, layer by layer, into whatever shape is desired. The cells remain pretty much where they were originally placed and after a while the entire structure comes together to become a unified piece of tissue.
“We were aiming to fabricate three-dimensional living tissues that could display the basic behaviours and physiology found in natural organisms,” in a published statement said Dr. Alexander Graham, lead author of the study appearing in Scientific Reports. “To date, there are limited examples of printed tissues, which have the complex cellular architecture of native tissues. Hence, we focused on designing a high-resolution cell printing platform, from relatively inexpensive components, that could be used to reproducibly produce artificial tissues with appropriate complexity from a range of cells including stem cells.”
Study in Scientific Reports: High-Resolution Patterned Cellular Constructs by Droplet-Based 3D Printing…
Via: Oxford…