A Cutting-Edge Printer for Bio-Fabricating Tissue Scaffolds

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Millions of people suffer from tissue/organ injuries, such as osteoarthritis and heart attacks. Tissue/organ transplantation is the gold standard to treat some of these types of injuries but is severely restricted as an option due to the limited availability of donor tissues/organs. Tissue engineering is an emerging field that aims to produce tissue/organ substitutes or tissue scaffolds that can grow with patients, ultimately providing a permanent solution by repairing/replacing what is damaged. Producing such tissue scaffolds, however, has proven to be a challenging task that has significantly limited progress towards clinical applications. An important barrier is the inability to fabricate scaffolds with structures and cell organizations that mimic those of native tissues/organs. In this application, we request a cutting-edge printer to enhance our capacity to fabricate tissue scaffolds with living cells based on a three-dimensional (3D) printing technique (that creates 3D objects by printing/depositing materials layer by layer). This enhanced capacity will enable us to develop novel scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, including myocardial infarction treatment, articular cartilage repair, tooth defect treatment, and stroke treatment, which are being actively pursued at the University of Saskatchewan. As such, the primary stakeholders of the research are the large number of Canadians who suffer from tissue/organ injuries as well as health researchers/practitioners/industry partners in related areas. This research will also involve the training of graduate students to meet the increasing demand for highly qualified personnel in the fields of tissue engineering and health care.