Q: What exactly is 3D bioprinting, and how do you actually print body tissue?
OZBOLAT: In 3D bioprinting, we deposit droplets, or filaments, of a biological material—a sort of hydrogel that contains cells, stem cells, or animal cells—in layers on a 3D bioprinter. We incorporate blood vessels into the printed structure so that we can keep the tissue viable with blood circulation, and once the bioprinting process is complete, we incubate the material in a sterile environment. Over time, the cells grow and split and make more cells, and eventually they organize into functional tissue.
Q: How long does this process take?
OZBOLAT: It depends on the tissue, but usually it takes between two and six weeks for the tissue to form.
Q: What kinds of printers are used for this?
OZBOLAT: There are different types of bioprinters—some are the size of a regular 3D printer, others are smaller. Different bioprinters are used to create different types of tissue, and what you use also depends on what kind of material you are using to create the tissue. Some materials are very viscous, so they require different bioprinters and bioprinting techniques.
Q: What kinds of tissue are printing in your lab?
OZBOLAT: It’s a very interdisciplinary lab that covers a range of tissues. I can say right now, we have about a dozen different types of tissues in the lab: cartilage, bone, skin, blood vessels. We also print lung, pancreas, heart, muscle, bronchial, nasal, and tumor tissues. We’re still expanding our portfolio.
Q: Is the printed tissue used in clinical settings?
OZBOLAT: At this time, there is no clinical translation of our work. But I am hoping that in the next few years, with participation from partners like the Penn State College of Medicine, we would see some clinical translation of our work. It will take time, though, because of the regulatory process.
Q: How do you see the field of 3D bioprinting moving forward?
OZBOLAT:We definitely need to move beyond bioprinted tissues like skin and bone to printing solid, lifesaving organs like livers, kidneys, and hearts. We are actually about to submit a big grant for heart-printing to test on large animals. Again, we’d hope for eventual clinical translation of this work.
Ibrahim Ozbolat is the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in 3D bioprinting and regenerative medicine.
