WHAT IS IT?

Bioprinting

This process could be the source of transplant organs in the future.

3D bioprinting is a similar process to traditional 3D printing – where 3D physical objects are created from a digital model on a layer-by-layer basis – except that the layers in bioprinting contain live cells. This requires highly sterile printing conditions to keep the cells alive.

The basic production process of 3D printing breaks down into four steps: preparation, printing, maturation and application. Users need to perform 3D imaging to construct the design, import the model into the bioprinter, attach cells to the scaffold, and then prepare it for use.

The first biological material was printed in 1987, the first extrusion printing of cells was in 2002, and the first laser-based printing of cells in 2004. A number of successful animal experiments followed this in 2016, when researchers replicated liver tissue in mice and blood vessels in rhesus monkeys.