ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Challenges for bioprinting include vascularization, cell development, machine usability and regulations


Bioprinting helping researchers understand how cells work in 3D space


Ilene Wolff Contributing Editor


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alk to anyone on the front lines of bioprinting and you’re sure to hear about issues with vascularization. “Everyone agrees that you will never have a fully func-


tioning organ come off a bioprinter without vascularization,” said Lauralyn McDaniel, industry manager for medical device manu- facturing at SME (Dearborn, MI). But vascularized skin is on the horizon:


Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has bioprinted skin in pre-clinical studies that shows vascularization. “In animal studies, the printed skin healed and remained stable over time,” John Jackson, associate professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest, said. The longest life for his bioprinted skin: 2 months. Wake Forest’s technique involves first


determining the skin wound’s shape and topography using a laser scanner. Then researchers take a small skin biopsy from a non-injured site and expand in culture the


keratinocytes (top layer of epithelial cells) and dermal fibroblasts. These expanded cells are then placed in the skin bioprinter and printed in layers on the wound area, an institute representative explained. “Our studies show that the new skin blends in with the patient’s existing skin and looks similar to the surrounding skin,” Jackson said.


BioBots CEO Danny Cabrera speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, where he demon- strated a desktop 3D printer for biomateri- als. He printed Van Gogh’s ear in replica (above).


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Summer 2016


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