A research team at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, has created a flexible 3D bioprinter designed to layer organic material directly onto organs or tissue. This minimally invasive system could potentially prevent major surgeries or organ removal. Although it seems futuristic, the team cautions that human testing is still five to seven years away.
Named F3DB, the bioprinter features a soft robotic arm capable of building biomaterials containing living cells onto damaged internal organs or tissues. The snake-like flexible body would be inserted into the body through the mouth or anus, with a pilot/surgeon navigating it towards the injured area using hand gestures. The device also has water jets for cleaning the target area, and its printing nozzle can function as an electric scalpel. The team envisions the multifunctional system as an all-in-one tool for minimally invasive surgeries, performing incisions, cleaning, and printing.
The F3DB’s robotic arm utilizes three soft-fabric-bellow actuators operated by a hydraulic system comprising “DC-motor-driven syringes that pump water to the actuators,” as described by IEEE Spectrum. Its arm and flexible printing head can each move in three degrees of freedom (DOFs), similar to desktop 3D printers. Additionally, it is equipped with a flexible miniature camera, allowing the operator to view the process in real-time.
The research team initially tested the device using non-biomaterials such as chocolate and liquid silicone. Subsequent trials involved a pig’s kidney and biomaterials printed onto a glass surface in an artificial colon. Thanh Nho Do, the team’s co-leader and Senior Lecturer at UNSW’s Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, said, “We saw the cells grow every day and increase by four times on day seven, the last day of the experiment.” He believes the F3DB has strong potential to be developed into an all-in-one endoscopic tool for endoscopic submucosal dissection procedures.
Although the device shows promise, more testing is needed before it can be used in real-world applications. The next steps involve animal testing and, eventually, human trials; Do estimates this is approximately five to seven years away. However, according to Ibrahim Ozbolat, a professor of engineering science and mechanics at Pennsylvania State University, “commercialization can only be a matter of time.”
