New In situ-In vivo Bioprinting Method Developed

Researchers  from Tsinghua University in China have taken the first steps towards in situ, in vivo bioprinting, which would allow tissue repair to take place inside the body. Their study was published in Biofabrication, establishing proof-of-concept for the new method of bioprinting. 

Specifically, the team aimed to repair gastric wounds, "Gastric wall injury is a common problem in the digestive tract, and about 12 percent of the world's population suffer from it to varying degrees,” says co-author Tao Xu. “Bioprinting—delivering new cells directly to the wound site to repair the tissue—offers a potentially very useful way to treat the problem.”

Current limitations in the bioprinting field have to do with the size of the machinery used. Since bioprinters are large, they can’t be applied or used to repair inner tissue without invasive therapy. “To overcome this, we developed a microrobot that enters the body via an endoscope to carry out tissue repair inside the body," they add. 

In order to test their new method, they tried the system in two ways. First, they used a biological model of a human stomach and an endoscope to mimic the insertion of the printing operation elements. Then, they carried out a bioprinting test in a cell culture dish to examine how effective the device was at printing viable cells and repairing tissue. 

"Both tests showed promising results. A ten-day cell culture showed that printed cells remained at a high viability and a steady proliferation, which indicated good biological function of the cells in printed tissue scaffolds," Xu adds.  "Although only a first step, this study has verified the feasibility of this concept for treatment for gastric wall injuries. More work is needed to bring it to full realization, including reducing the size of the bioprinting platform and developing bioinks. Our future studies will concentrate on these areas."