Contactless Formation of 3D Cellular Structures for Economical Bioprinting

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Organ shortage is an ever pressing issue facing patients today. In the year 2014, organ transplant surgeriesamounted for 2,356, yet more than 4,500 Canadians remained without their much needed organ transplants bythe end of that year. 238 patients have succumbed to their respective organ failure as a result of organ donorshortage (Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canada). At the forefront of cutting-edge researchare 3D bioprinters. These machines allow for the creation of 3D cellular structures, better mimicking thosefound in our bodies, and thus synthetically fabricate functional organs, which may solve today's organ shortageproblem. While simplistic cellular constructs are possible, more complex organs remain just outside the reachof applied science. The wide adoption of bioprinters, however, is currently hindered by their high price.Structur3D Printing, a Waterloo based company, has focused on offering robust and economical 3D printingplatforms, which can accommodate various printable inks. By expanding the spectrum of ink to includebioinks, more economical bioprinting platforms will become possible. Therefore, Structur3D Printing proposesa partnership with McMaster University. The scope of the proposed project is to develop a rapid bioinkmanufacturing methodology using contactless magnetic manipulation of cells to create 3D cell spheroids,which will be used as the building blocks in the bioink development phase. The project and technology willallow the company to develop a proof of concept of rapid bioink fabrication and their subsequent use with acost effective 3D printer to print functioning 3D cellular structures, thereby facilitating the adoption ofbioprinters and accelerating research in the drug screening and tissue engineering fields. Providing Structur3d3D Printing with a solution to their problem will help to further position Canada at the forefront of 3Dbioprinting innovation globally.For more information on Structur3D Printing, please visit: https://www.structur3d.io/