3D Printing Body Parts: A Complete Guide
In recent years 3D printing reach a height that has allowed medical researchers to print such things that were not possible to print by using previous technologies. Now, 3D printing can print food, medicine, and even body parts. 3D printers help to save the life of a human by printing functional human organs.
Just think about it if we can print human organs on demand, then there will be no need of waiting for the transplanted organs. Now we are in the early stage of organ printing technology, as it is a more complex procedure than printing plastic toys. 3D bioprinting technology can be used to reconstruct tissue and organs, including skin, bone, cardiac, cartilage, and other body parts.
How to 3D Print Body Parts: 3D Bio-Printing
3D bioprinting is the use of 3D printing technology for the fabrication of body parts. Bioprinters work in a similar way to normal 3D printers which are used for producing 3D models. The main difference is in the use of materials used for 3D printing. Normal printers use plastic or ceramic and bioprinters use living cells, blood vessels, skin tissues, and other bio-materials for depositing in a layer-by-layer fashion.
Required cells for printing any body parts are taken from a patient and then cultivated. These cells use carrier materials and scaffolds for their cultivation. Here carrier is the type of biopolymer gel, which acts as the scaffold, used in the protection of cells during the printing process.
Cells get attached to the gel, which is flexible enough for allowing the flow and diffusion of nutrients as well as the movement of cells and it is sturdy enough to allow printing. The combination of cells and biopolymer gel is referred to as the bio-ink which is used by biomedical engineers for creating 3D-printed body parts.
First, there is a requirement for detailed computer designs and models, which are based on the scanning of human body parts by using magnetic resonance imaging and computerised tomography. Then comes the precision printer, which deposits cells and bio-inks exactly where they should be and then over several hours, an organic object is created by using a large number of very thin layers.
During the whole process of keeping the cells alive, liquefied nutrients and oxygen is used. There are some post-printing processes in which the structures are crosslinked with UV light or ionic solutions for making them more stable. For controlling the remodelling and growth of tissues, cells need chemical or mechanical stimulation. Then this 3D-printed product is put into an incubator which allows the cells to grow.
After completing the process, when the organ is ready it must be used as soon as possible unless bioprinting is combined with cryopreservative techniques.
3D Printed Body Parts
1. Kidneys
Of all the 3D-printed organs, the kidney is one of the most difficult organs for recreation, due to its complex internal structure. However, the kidney is the most needed organ for transplantation.
Scientists from the Lewis Lab at Harvard University developed a new bio-printing method which allowed the creation of small segments of the nephron in 2016. These are called proximal tubules. Nephrons are the basic unit of the kidneys and are responsible for the whole blood filtering process in these organs.
Another experiment is in 2019, American bioprinting company Organovo, created the successfully automated production of kidney organoids, with the help of its bioprinting platform the Organovo NovoGen. These are the self-organising stem cell-based structures which can be produced in large numbers.
The most recent example is, in September 2020, the United Therapeutic Corporation partnered with the Israeli regenerative medicine company CollPlant Biotechnologies which applies its material technology to kidney bioprinting development.
Download 3D models of kidneys: Thingiverse, Cults3D, Myminifactory.
2. Liver
In the US almost 2 per cent of the entire population is suffering from liver disease. The only treatment for this is organ transplantation. However, there is a gap between organ needs and their availability.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego, 3D printed organic tissue that mimicked the liver structure in architecture and function.
In 2019, there is successful bioprinting of miniature livers by Brazilian Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo. These are the organoid structures derived from the human blood cells which perform normal functioning of the liver such as producing proteins, secreting bile juice, and storing vitamins. This process took approximately 90 days from collecting the patient's blood to the final maturing of the mini-livers.
Download 3D models of kidneys: Thingiverse.
3. Heart
3D Printed heart is the most promising project for this technology. If the considered heart is one of the easiest organs to recreate because it does not involve any complex biochemical reactions. Hearts primary function is to act as the hydraulic pump.
American research institute, The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), worked on various tissue engineering applications and transplantations. In 2018, WFIRM made the 3D bio-printed functional cardiac tissue by using mice cells.
The first ever fully vascularised 3D printed mini heart is created by researchers at the Tel Aviv University’s School of Molecular Cell Biology. This mini heart is made from human cells and carrier gels.
The Biolife4D, a Chicago-based company in 2019, created a similar organ. The organ made by them has more functionality and is bigger compared to the previous one.
With so many such experiments, scientists predict that a ready-to-transplant 3D bio-printed heart will be ready within the decade.
Download 3D models of kidneys: Thingiverse.
4. Cornea
The cornea is the outermost layer of the eye, essential for our focus vision and for protecting the eye from the environment. Corneal blindness is the common cause of blindness often requiring a corneal transplant.
For the first time, in 2018 scientists at Newcastle University were able to 3D print a human cornea. They combine alginate and collagen for creating a unique bio-ink, which is extruded in a circle shape for forming the cornea in less than 10 minutes.
Also, the proof of concept project is given in the paper entitled 3D printed artificial Cornea for Corneal Stromal Transplantation. It is given by the Newcastle University.
Download 3D models of kidneys: Thingiverse.
5. Bones
Bones are the main structural component of the human body, people can damage, break or even completely lose the bone due to accident or some disease. In such situations, bone transplantation is needed.
3D-printed orthotics is a very wide field and is one of the most popular real-life applications of metal 3D printing. In 2018, more than 100,000 hip cup implants are produced and implants in real patients.
For bone bioprinting scaffold structures are created, created by a scientist from the University of East Angelia in the UK in collaboration with the Animal Health institute in 2019.
Download 3D models of kidneys: Thingiverse.
Best 3D Modeling Software to Design 3D Print Body Parts: “SelfCAD”
SelfCAD is one of the best 3D modeling software available that you can use to create both simple and complex designs. One of the powerful tools SelfCAD has is the sculpting features that offer a game-changing advantage when it comes to creating models of body parts. Whether you're a medical professional, an artist, or a hobbyist, these intuitive tools provide a seamless and powerful platform to design and sculpt intricate anatomical models. You can easily manipulate and shape 3D objects with these brushes to achieve lifelike representations of various body parts.
If you would like to 3D print your designs, SelfCAD has its own in-built online slicer. This integrated slicer streamlines the process by eliminating the need for external slicing software. Simply export your 3D model directly from SelfCAD to the slicer by clicking 3D print, and it will redirect you to the slicer interface where you can adust the necessary settings and thereafter generate the G-code for your 3D printer.
Conclusion
3D organ printing could save a lot of lives, but there is difficulty in creating a vascular structure needed to print viable printed organs. For preventing the death of the cells and tissues, all 3D-printed organs needed a continuous blood supply. This is managed by 3D printed blood vessel structure, created by a team of researchers at the Israel Technion Institute of Technology in October 2021.
All these studies of 3D organ printing show that there is a long way to go where we 3D print organs on demand. In the coming years, 3D printing in general and bio-printing specifically will advance and will develop more organs for transplantation.
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