Tissue generated by hybrid 3D bio-printer helps the injured re-grow cartilage

American scientists have developed a hybrid printer that prints cartilage, which could one day be implanted into injured patients to help re-grow cartilage in areas such as the joints.

The 3D tissue printer, featured in a study published in the journal Biofabrication by the Institute of Physics, is a mix of a traditional ink jet printer and an electrospinning machine.

Electrospinning of polycaprolactone fibers is alternated with inkjet printing of rabbit elastic chondrocytes(cells found in healthy cartilage) suspended in a fibrin–collagen hydrogel in order to fabricate a five-layer tissue construct of 1 mm thickness. The chondrocytes survived within the printed hybrid construct with more than 80% viability one week after printing.

The implants were inserted into mice for two, four and eight weeks and successful results came up.

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“This is a proof of concept study and illustrates that a combination of materials and fabrication methods generates durable implantable constructs,” said James Yoo, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and an author on the study. “Other methods of fabrication, such as robotic systems, are currently being developed to further improve the production of implantable tissue constructs.”

The printer is still under further testing, but the sole purpose is to use the printed cartilage for humans.

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