3D printed cells lend hope to amputees

Scientists have developed a method to 3D print cells to produce human tissue such as ligaments and tendons, a process they say will greatly improve a patient’s recovery. A person with a badly damaged ligament, tendon, or ruptured disc could simply have new replacement tissue printed and ultimately implanted in the damaged area, according to a study published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering, Part C: Methods.

“It will allow patients to receive replacement tissues without additional surgeries and without having to harvest tissue from other sites, which has its own source of problems,” said Robby Bowles, an assistant professor at the University of Utah in the US.

The 3D printing method involves taking stem cells from the patient’s own body fat and printing them on a layer of hydrogel to form a tendon or ligament which would later grow in vitro in a culture before being implanted. However, it is an extremely complicated process because that kind of connective tissue is made up of different cells in complex patterns.

For example, cells that make up the tendon or ligament must then gradually shift to bone cells so the tissue can attach to the bone. “This is a technique in a very controlled manner to create a pattern and organisations of cells that you could not create with previous technologies,” said Bowles. “It allows us to very specifically put cells where we want them,” he said. The team worked with US-based company, Carterra, which develops microfluidic devices for medicine.