The Most Promising 3D Bioprinting Projects

Bioprinting is a method that makes it possible to manufacture cellular structures from bioinks loaded with stem cells: layer by layer, the biomaterial is deposited to design skin, tissue or even an organ. Imagine a 3D printed heart, ear, lung or kidney, custom-designed with the patient’s own cells. What a breakthrough for the medical sector! It is still a bit early to count on bio-printed organs that are viable and durable over time, which is the challenge for our researchers. But progress is making great strides and in the long run, bioprinting could help us to face the lack of organ donors or simply to better understand certain pathologies. Here, we have selected some of the main bioprinting projects in the world, whether they are 3D printed tissues, organs or body parts.

A 3D Printed Mini Human Heart Which Beats

A Boston University research team has used 3D printing technology to develop a miniature replica of a human heart. The device was created using a combination of human stem cell-derived heart cells and microscale 3D printed acrylic parts. It is a “precision-enabled miniaturized unidirectional cardiac microfluidic pump,” also known as miniPUMP (miniaturized Precision-enabled Unidirectional Microfluidic Pump).The amazing feature of the miniPUMP is that it can beat on its own, just like a human heart, thanks to its living tissue.

Researchers want to use this replica of the heart chamber to study how the heart works in the human body. The device could, for example, be used to better understand how the heart grows in an embryo, how heart tissue is affected by disease, or how effective new drugs are in treating such diseases. A true revolution that could avoid the need for human testing in the future.