Kacey Ronaldson-Bouchard/Columbia Engineering
Plug-and-play organ-on-a-chip can be customized to the patient
05/05/2022
Major advance from Columbia Engineering team demonstrates first multi-organ chip made of engineered human tissues linked by vascular flow for improved modeling of systemic diseases like cancer
DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials
ERC Consolidator Grant for Laura De Laporte and the "HEARTBEAT" project
23/03/2022
Scientist Laura De Laporte (DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and RWTH Aachen University) has been awarded one of the most highly endowed research grants of the European Research Council (ERC): an ERC Consolidator Grant
Gabriel Salg/Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Using 3D printing to create insulin-producing cells
22/02/2022
3D printing opens a world of endless possibilities – for both industrial and medical applications. A cross-national project recently created tissue that produces insulin, spelling hope for patients with diabetes.
Multi-photon lithography: printing cells with micrometer accuracy
01/12/2020
How do cells react to certain drugs? And how exactly is new tissue created? This can be analyzed by using bioprinting to embed cells in fine frameworks. However, current methods are often imprecise or too slow to process cells before they are damaged. At the TU Vienna, a high-resolution bioprinting process has now been developed using a new bio-ink.
"Cells are highly sensitive" – material development for bioprinting
01/12/2020
The big hope of bioprinting is to someday be able to print whole human organs. So far, the process has been limited to testing platforms such as organs-on-a-chip. That's because the actual printing process already poses challenges. Scientists need suitable printing materials that ensure the cell's survival as it undergoes the procedure. The Fraunhofer IGB is researching and analyzing this aspect.
Bioprinting: life from the printer
01/12/2020
It aims at the production of test systems for drug research and gives patients on the waiting lists for donor organs hope: bioprinting. Thereby biologically functional tissues are printed. But how does that actually work? What are the different bioprinting methods? And can entire organs be printed with it? These and other questions are examined in our Topic of the Month.
panthermedia.net/kasto
Cardiac Tissue Engineering: a heart out of the Petri dish
23/09/2019
For patients waiting for donor organs, every day can mean the difference between life and death. Making things even more complicated is the fact that not every organ is a compatible match with the patient. It would mean enormous progress if we could grow organs from the patient's own cells in the lab. That's why patients with heart disease place big hope in tissue engineering.
panthermedia.net/Wavebreakmedia ltd
Regenerative heart valves: from simulation to replacement
23/07/2018
Every year, more than 250,000 patients worldwide receive heart valve implants. Children require repeated replacement surgery because their bodies are still growing, the prosthetic heart valves are not. Regenerative heart valves solve this problem. Until now, we have only been able to monitor how these living implants develop in the body after the fact. Computer models now make this predictable.
Leibniz University of Hanover/Institute of Technical Chemistry
Tissue engineering: how to grow a bypass
23/04/2018
A bypass is a complicated structure. It is either made of synthetic materials that can cause blood clots and infections or created by using the patient’s veins. However, the latter often does not yield adequate material. A newly developed bioreactor could solve this problem in the future. It is designed to tissue engineer vascular grafts by using the body’s own material.
Empa
"Spray-On" muscle fibers for biomimetic surfaces
08/01/2018
Few patients with heart failure are fortunate enough to receive a donor's heart. Ventricular assist devices (or heart pumps) have been around for several years and are designed to buy time as patients wait for a transplant. Unfortunately, the body doesn't always tolerate these devices.