Bioprinting: Living cells in a 3D printer
Tissue growth and the behaviour of cells can be controlled and investigated particularly well by embedding the cells in a delicate 3D framework. This is achieved using additive 3D printing methods – so-called “bioprinting” techniques.
“Our method provides many possibilities to adapt the environment of the cells,” says Aleksandr Ovsianikov, head of the 3D Printing and Biofabrication research group at the Institute of Materials Science and Technology (TU Wien). Depending on how the structure is built, it can be made stiffer or softer. Even fine, continuous gradients are possible. In this way, it is possible to define exactly how the structure should look in order to allow the desired kind of cell growth and cell migration. The laser intensity can also be used to determine how easily the structure will be degraded over time.
Ovsianikov is convinced that this is an important step forward for cell research: “Using these 3D scaffolds, it is possible to investigate the behaviour of cells with previously unattainable accuracy. It is possible to study the spread of diseases, and if stem cells are used, it is even possible to produce tailor-made tissue in this way”.
The research project is international and interdisciplinary cooperation in which three different institutes of the TU Vienna were involved: Ovsianikov’s research group was responsible for the printing technology itself, and the Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry developed fast and cell-friendly photoinitiators (the substances that initiate the hardening process when illuminated) and the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Structural Biomechanics analyzed the mechanical properties of the printed structures.
The high-resolution 3D Printing technology and the materials are being commercialized by the young but very successful TU Wien spin-off UPNano GmbH.
Source: Florian Aigner, TU Wien
