27. Jul 2016

The new face of reconstructive surgery

The new face of reconstructive surgery

Promising results have been achieved with the help of 3D printed cartilage made from nanocellulose combined with human cells in constructing tailored implants for patients with severe facial disfigurements.

The project is a collaboration between American Process Inc. (API), an Atlanta-based company dedicated to the development of renewable biomass materials and Swansea University Medical School in Wales. The two have announced a Joint Development Agreement to develop 3D printed cartilage to be used for facial reconstruction.

The project is being funded by a grant from the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council to Swansea University’s Reconstructive Surgery and Regenerative Medicine (ReconRegen) Research Group. Research conducted by the ReconRegen group has shown that nanocellulose is compatible with human cells and can be 3D printed as a support structure in bioprinting – and also that living cells can survive the printing process.

Nanocellulose BioplusOne of API’s major products is their BioPlus nanocellulose material, which will be used as part of the JDA to create scaffolding material for the project. Human cells will be blended with various nanocellulose scaffold formulations and 3D printed to create living tissue which, the research group hopes, can eventually be used for reconstructive surgery. The goal is to develop anatomically-shaped tissue, tailored to individual patients, that can survive long-term.

Project leader Professor Iain Whitaker said: “3D printing is increasingly used to manufacture prosthetics and implants from materials like plastic or titanium. But bio-printing, using human cells instead of man-made material, is a promising new science.

“We are printing living tissues, living structures, tailored to the needs of individual patients. We hope that in the future, patients who have lost all or part of their ear or nose through trauma or cancer could have reconstruction using new tissue which is grown from their own cells using nanocellulose.

“Biomaterials are a key component of our tissue printing technology and nanocellulose is our biomaterial of choice because of its biocompatibility, mechanical and structural properties that can support cell attachment and growth in three-dimensions.”

Nanocellulose has various characteristics that make it a preferred component for “bioinks”. Its high water holding capacity and unique particle assembly in water causes nanocellulose to form shear-thinning gels that flow easily during printing but becomes firm gel-like three-dimensional structures when deposited on a surface. In addition, nanocellulose self-assembles to form dense, smooth, and strong structures after drying. Research has also shown nanocellulose to be non-cytotoxic to growing cells.

API was chosen as a partner in the project because of their unique nanocellulose process that produces a variety of nanocellulose products with various particle sizes and surface chemistry. API was also able to provide the large quantities needed for the project.
Dr Ayesha Al-Sabah, a ReconRegen Postdoctoral Fellow, reported that “on trialing the nanocellulose bioink it became clear that the rheological properties were ideally suited to nozzle-based 3D bioprinting”.

“Nanocellulose has a variety of advantages that we expect to significantly impact the growing biomedical engineering field,” said API CEO Theodora Retsina. “Tissue engineering alone will have significant impact on the global economy. According to a recent market report, the global market will increase from $23 billion currently to over $94 billion by 2022.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the innovators at Swansea who are contributing to this global growth. We built our BioPlus nanocellulose demonstration plant to support efforts such as this to develop break-through technologies that will provide solutions for a more healthful, prosperous future for global citizens.” KL

https://americanprocess.com/bioplus

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