Contactless Formation of 3D Cellular Structures for Economical Bioprinting

器官短缺是当今患者面临的一个日益紧迫的问题。2014年，器官移植手术达到2356例，但截至2014年底，仍有4500多名加拿大人没有得到他们急需的器官移植。238名患者因器官供体短缺而各自死于器官衰竭（资料来源：加拿大卫生信息研究所，加拿大）。最前沿的研究是3D生物打印机。这些机器可以创造3D细胞结构，更好地模仿我们体内的细胞结构，从而合成出功能器官，这可能会解决当今器官短缺的问题。虽然简单的细胞结构是可能的，但更复杂的器官仍然在应用科学的范围之外。然而，生物打印机的广泛采用目前受到其高昂价格的阻碍。Structur3D Printing是一家总部位于滑铁卢的公司，专注于提供强大而经济的3D打印平台，可以容纳各种可打印的墨水。通过扩大油墨的范围，包括生物油墨，更经济的生物打印平台将成为可能。因此，Structur3D Printing提议与麦克马斯特大学合作。拟议项目的范围是开发一种快速生物墨水制造方法，使用非接触式磁操作细胞来创建3D细胞球体，这将用作生物墨水开发阶段的构建块。该项目和技术将使该公司能够开发快速生物墨水制造的概念验证，并随后使用具有成本效益的3D打印机打印功能3D细胞结构，从而促进生物打印机的采用，并加速药物筛选和组织工程领域的研究。为Structur3d3D打印提供解决方案将有助于加拿大进一步处于全球3d生物打印创新的前沿。有关Structur3D打印的更多信息，请访问：https://www.structur3d.io/

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/