3D BIO-PRINTING

What’s it..?
3D bio-printing is 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-by-layer approach
to generate tissue-like three-dimensional 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 y-axes. 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 an elevator that 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-, y- and 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, bio-
ink 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 as bioink, 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 a human
organ.
Alternatively, the scientist could start with a bioink consisting
of stem 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 or MRI 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 bio-ink 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 be fully
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 have successfully printed
parts of a human heart using 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
the Centre for Applied Reconstructive
Technologies in Surgery.
Liver tissue

In January, Organovo successfully

printed samples 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
Medicine designed 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