Contactless Formation of 3D Cellular Structures for Economical Bioprinting

器官短缺是当今患者面临的一个永远紧迫的问题。2014年，加拿大共进行了2356例器官移植手术，但到当年年底，仍有4500多名加拿大人没有进行他们急需的器官移植手术。238名患者因器官捐赠者或器官短缺而死于各自的器官衰竭(资料来源：加拿大健康信息研究所)。处于尖端研究前沿的是3D生物打印机。这些机器可以创建3D细胞结构，更好地模拟我们身体中的结构，从而合成功能器官，这可能会解决今天的器官短缺问题。虽然简单化的细胞结构是可能的，但更复杂的器官仍然处于应用科学的触角之外。然而，生物打印机的广泛应用目前因其高昂的价格而受到阻碍。滑铁卢的Structur3D打印公司专注于提供坚固而经济的3D打印平台，该平台可以容纳各种可打印的墨水。通过将油墨的范围扩大到包括生物油墨，更经济的生物打印平台将成为可能。因此，Structur3D打印公司提议与麦克马斯特大学建立合作伙伴关系。拟议项目的范围是开发一种快速生物墨水制造方法，使用细胞的非接触式磁性操纵来创建3D细胞球体，该球体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证明，并随后与成本低廉的3D打印机一起使用，以打印功能正常的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Structur3D打印公司提供解决它们问题的解决方案将有助于进一步将加拿大定位于全球3D生物打印创新的前沿。有关Structur3D打印公司的更多信息，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/