Texas Medical Science

University

Memo
To:

Dr. John Williams, President of National Science Foundation

From:

Courtney Colomo, Project Materials Coordinator

Nicholas Moore, Research Analyst
Pamela Lopez, Manager

Date:

April 8, 2015

Subject:

Progress Report for 3-D bioprinter

Purpose

On March 30th, 2015 we purposed a 3D bioprinter to help us research advanced methods to perform
organ transplants. This report is to inform you of the progress on our research and what has yet to be
completed.
Introduction
3-D bioprinting uses the concept of a regular printer but it has an additional axis. With this
arrangement it can lay down material from side to side, but it can also deposit layers vertically as the
elevator draws the platform down and away from the print head. Fill it with cells, and it will output a
mass of cells.
Currently, we are working on creating complex organs and are unable to do that because the bioprinters we have are outdated. The usage of the bio-printers that we currently have is not viable with
the cells that we need to use for research. Because we have outdated 3-D bioprinters we are unable
to print with certain cells and to perform research that would be relevant to current problems with bio
printing. The importance of this innovation is crucial to studying the ability to create organs.
Completed Work

Task 1. Research transplantation of tissues.

Some of the tissues include multilayered skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and
cartilaginous structures (Murphy, Sean).
3D bioprinting has made more of an advance in medicine and is making the transplantation of organ
and tissues more suitable. The 3D bioprinting produces a material called biomaterial that is stronger
than the average bodily material such as bone and soft tissue. The University of Iowa has been
working on a study to make functional tissues and organs for transplantation or drug testing using
bioprinting (Moody, Michael).

Task 2: Research Organs we couldnt research before.

More complex organs that require multiple cells.
One of the biggest problems with bioprinting is the difficulty of printing complex organs. While
the printing of tissues or simpler organs does not take too much effort, the printing of more
complex one has several issues.
Printing an organ starts out the same as printing anything else. The model is uploaded to the
printer and it begins printing the organ row by row. Whatever cells are required for the organ
become the ink the printer uses, along with a gel that helps hold them in place. Once the
organ in finished printing, it must be placed in an incubator. Here, the cells get used to working
together, whatever that might entail for their organ.
The problem, once the organ is finished with the incubation stage, is that printed cells do not
behave like the native cells of a transplant recipients body. Currently, the most likely solution
would be to use stem cells from the patients own body for the bioprinting. The cells would
mature into the cells needed with the instructions of what type of cell to behave as.
A larger problem with bioprinting is its inability to print smaller organ parts, such as single-cell
thick capillaries. Capillaries carry blood to the cells of the organ, so the ability to print them is a
necessity. With current technology, bioprinters do not have a small enough resolution for this
job. While larger versions have been created, the ability to print them to scale is needed before
bioprinting organ transplants becomes a possibility (Harris, William).

Task 3: The Bioprinting Process.

The bioprinting process centers on key architecture and compositional elements of a target tissue.
We would be able to learn create tissues and physically see how the bio-printer creates them.
Our secondary research lets us know that theres several steps taken when creating a tissue. The
process starts with creating a tissue design to the bio-printer using a layer by layer process to build
up tissues vertically and achieve their three-dimensionality. The bio printing process can be tailored
to produce tissues in several formats, to larger structures that are suitable for placement prior to use
(Harris, William).

Future Work

Research negative feedback on the 3-D bio printer

How we can overcome any negative feedback

Find out if the 3-D bio printer is still better than other products or if theres better innovations
for our research and studying.

This research is so we can experiment with different types of cells

Updated Schedule
Task 1. Research transplantation of tissues.

4/15/15

Task 2. Research organs we couldnt 4/6/15

research before.
Task 3. The bioprinting process.

4/15/15

Task 4. Research negative feedback on the 4/15/15

3-D bio printer.
Task 5. See if theres better innovations for 4/20/15
this type of research.

Conclusion
Right now we have researched all the advantages of the 3D bioprinter. We still need to research the
disadvantages, compare it to other bio printers, and research other innovations that might be better.
We plan to have this done by April 20th.
Works Cited
Harris, William. "How 3-D Bioprinting Works" 17 December 2013. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/modern-technology/3-d-bioprinting.htm> 01 Apr.
2015.
Moody, Michael. "Advancing Tissue Engineering." 3D Printing News. University of Iowa, 23 Nov.
2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
Murphy, Sean V., and Anthony Atala. "3D Bioprinting of Tissues and Organs." Nature Biotechnology.
Nature Publishing Group, 5 Aug. 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.