Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU Eindhoven) have developed a new 3D printer with the potential to unlock the future of transplantable 3D bioprinted tissues.
Their system revolves around Xolography – a form of spatially controlled photopolymerization – which allows for the 3D printing of structures with details just 20 microns in size. Though the team are keen to scale back expectations of a 3D bioprinting breakthrough, these single-cell resolution tissues could one day be scaled into implantable skin grafts or even organs.
“Four years ago Xolo was looking to advance its technology into biomedical applications,” explains project researcher Miguel Dias Castilho. “My team was searching for a disruptive technology that could potentially offer high resolution, fast manufacturing speeds, and scalability – so it’s a perfect marriage.”
Chasing the ‘holy grail’ of 3D bioprinting
According to researchers in Eindhoven, the ability to rapidly, precisely create viable tissues that mimic the natural environment of cells is considered “the holy grail” of 3D bioprinting. Yet, despite the hype surrounding the technology, progress towards this end has been relatively slow, and to-date no single universal 3D printable tissue model has developed.
Working with Xolography, they’re hoping to change that. At their lab, they’ve developed a “hackerspace” 3D printer, which harnesses the power of intersecting light beams to cure liquid polymers submersed in a light reactive fluid into tiny, finely detailed structures.
Initially developed by Xolo, the technology isn’t purpose-built for bioprinting per se. In fact, Xolo partnered with Swarovski to transform glass manufacturing just last year. However, at TU Eindhoven, this process is now helping researchers take their first steps towards the 3D bioprinting of viable tissues – in the shape of a modified Xolo Xube system.
“For now, we view the technology still as a hackerspace,” added Castilho. “Our research is a necessary first step for the future of tissue engineering. Right now, it can print physiologically more relevant 3D environments for cell culture, and in the long term, it could help make 3D printed organs a reality.”
Are we any closer to tissue 3D printing?
The Eindhoven team’s hackerspace initiative is just the latest in a series of breakthrough 3D bioprinting projects unveiled in recent years. Last autumn, Frontier Bio announced that it had 3D bioprinted lung tissues with the ability to ‘self-organize’ for preclinical drug R&D.
Similarly, a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have come up with a way of 3D printing brain tissue that works and grows just like the real thing. Though implanting tissues like these may prove impossible, it’s thought that they could be perfect for modeling disease progression, and potentially even developing cures for illnesses like Alzheimer’s.
Using Xolo’s technology, the TU Eindhoven scientists appear to have given themselves a headstart on the 3D printing side of things. It’ll be fascinating to see how their research progresses in the years to come. You can access their paper on the subject here.
