Engineers at Buffalo University Close to Using 3D Printing to Make Human Organs

Engineers from the University at Buffalo have designed a technology that allows 3D-printed human organs and tissues to be developed at a pace that is almost 50 times faster than the current industry standard. This biotechnology could be used to save lives that may have otherwise been lost due to donor organ shortages.

Associate professor of biomedical engineering and the co-lead author of the study Ruogang Zhao explained that the technology also worked with big sample sizes, which was not easy to achieve prior to the technology’s invention. The study was reported in the “Advanced Healthcare Materials” journal in February.

The study focuses on stereolithography, which is a 3D-printing method and jelly-like materials called hydrogels, which are used in tissue engineering to develop scaffolds, contact lenses and diapers. The team of researchers designed the technology in a way that ensured that the 3D printing technique was not only accurate but also very quick.

Chi Zhou, an associate professor of systems and industrial engineering and the other co-lead author of the study, explained that the method the research team developed allowed small hydrogel models to be printed at a quicker pace, which considerably decreased cellular injuries and part deformation often caused by prolonged exposure to stresses in the environment commonly observed in normal 3D-printing methods.

Researchers stated that the method could be used to print cells with ingrained blood vessel networks. Many expect that the budding technology will be a primary feature of the production of 3D-printed human organs and tissues.

The study’s first authors include PhD candidate in Zhou’s laborator  Zipeng Guo, SprintRay Inc. research scientist Hang Ye, and Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine postdoctoral researcher Nanditha Anandakrishnan.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, with the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences providing additional funding.

Other co-authors came from the Jacobs School Department of Medicine, the Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering and the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering — all  from the Department of Biomedical Engineering joint program.

Researchers from Syracuse University’s Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Department of Cell Stress Biology as well as those from the VA Western New York Healthcare System also assisted in the study.

The possibility of 3D-printed organs isn’t the only current news in the biomedical field today. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a thorn in the flesh of the entire globe, and plenty of companies have done what they can to contribute to the fight. A clear example is XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT), which has developed a PCR diagnostic tool that is not only portable but also delivers results rapidly.

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