http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/03/20/3d-printing-aorta-cells-turkey/
Everyday we are a step closer and a step further away from the 3D bioprinting of a functional organ made from human tissue. At Sabancı University in Turkey, a research team has pushed us further towards that goal by 3D bioprinting anatomically accurate macro-vascular tissue that could, one day, be used to treat heart disease in cardiac patients and provide the basis for the vasculature of 3D printed organs.
The
university’s 3D Tissue and Organ Printing Lab, Nanotechnology Research
and Application Center (SUNUM) has taken current 3D bioprinting
technology to its next logical step. Whereas company’s like Organovo
have been able to 3D print cellular arrays made from liver tissue,
Sabancı has modeled their print after actual MRI data. The team began by
translating an MRI scan of an actual human aorta to a specialized CAD
model. Living human fibroblast cells were then cultured and printed with
a hydrogel to form the aorta structure.The hydrogel was incubated for five to seven days until an anatomically accurate section of the blood vessel was formed.
Blood vessels, like the aorta, are made up of fibroblast, endothelial and smooth muscle cells. So, while the SUNUM researchers were able to culture the cells in fibroblast cells, which serve as the connective material for our tissues, they are continuing to experiment with the endothelium, the thin inner layer of blood cells, and the smooth muscle cells. Ultimately, they hope to construct a more significant representation of the aorta, the largest vessel in our bodies. Bahattin Koç, a faculty member on the project, explains why they began with the aorta:
More at link.
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