Last March, we wrote about Professor Vladimir Mironov’s 3D printed medical breakthrough: the world’s first 3D printed transplantable organ, to be used on a mouse. This week, it was reported that not only did the mouse thyroid transplant surgery go relatively smoothly, but that the 3D printed thyroid gland is completely functional.
Here we are again with our Top 10 lists of 3D printers. This time we ventured into the exceedingly complex world of 3D bioprinting. Most commercially available 3D bioprinters are based on some proprietary version of a basic syringe/pressure-based extrusion of both paste-like polymeric substances and hydrogels (also known as bioinks in certain cases), which are basically gel-like substances containing high quantities of water and living cells.
Organ printing is defined as a layer by layer additive robotic computer-aided biofabrication of functional 3D organ constructs with using self-assembling tissue spheroids according to digital model.
Bioprinting is a variant of the biomedical application of rapid prototyping technology or layer-by-layer additive biofabrication of 3D tissue and organ constructs for replacement, repair and regeneration of damaged and diseased human organs and tissues.
This was may day so far: I wrote about an amazing new development in the adoption of 3D printing for surgery in Italy, an incredible new 3D printing technology developed by a graduate student in Buffalo, and a stunning “smart doll” created by a self-described gaijin (non-Japanese person) in Japan. Only a couple of years ago, this would be science fiction. Instead, to top it off, here I am enjoying the sunset with a Campari Spritz, writing about my interview with Vladimir Mironov, the scientist behind most of the work at Russia’s 3D Bioprinting Solutions (3D Bio for short).
After announcing late last year that they would be able to 3D print a functional thyroid to be implanted in humans by the end of 2015, Skolkovo-based bioprinting start-up 3D Bioprinting Solutions (3D Bio) announced they have, in fact, created the functional bioficial gland; although, so far, the organ has only been deemed suitable for implantation in mice and not humans, quite yet.
It’s no secret that while additive manufacturing has afforded many different industries with cheaper and faster ways of getting objects made fast and accurately, it is the medical industry that has seen some of the most exciting and revolutionary breakthroughs.
The advancements seen within the field of 3D bioprinting are simply staggering. With numerous companies spending millions of dollars on advancing such technologies, we are in the early stages of what may be one of the most important medical revolutions of our time. With 3D printed human organs promising to one day eliminate the lengthy organ transplant waiting lists, perhaps saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year, these advances can not come soon enough.
As the world of bioprinting becomes increasingly exciting, with new advancements happening on a regular basis, it’s difficult to determine just which company is furthest ahead. Is it Organovo, the publicly traded company already working to create 3D printed mini kidneys with Australian researchers? Or is it one of the many research institutions making advancements in 3D printing ear drums, blood vessels, or carbon composites for bone regeneration?
We’re back again with another weekly roundup, this time looking at a subset of 3D printing technology that is already saving lives, and given recent advances, will soon be saving hundreds of thousands more. 3D bioprinting is the process of using living cells to generate three-dimensional constructs, layer by layer, which preserve the cells’ function and viability.
