Forbes
MAR 25, 2016
Jennifer Hicks
CONTRIBUTOR
Click for video:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2016/03/25/this-handheld-surgical-biopen-can-draw-stem-cells-to-repair-cartilage/#28df449964a1
There are about 50 million people worldwide with doctor-diagnosed arthritis. That number is expected to rise to 67 million by 2030. Arthritis is a disease of the joint where the cartilage between the joints breaks down and makes movement painful and can require orthopedic surgery. The average orthopedic surgeon performs 29 procedures each month the most common procedures are sports medicine, hand surgery and joint replacement.
What if an orthopedic surgeon didn’t have to use a scalpel to operate when performing some of these surgeries? What if the surgeon could use a pen to draw on personalized cell material onto the damaged cartilage, letting it heal itself with its own cells?
Sound too far out there?
Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science in Melbourne, Australia have created a proof-of-concept biopen that uses 3D printing methods to draw a gel-like stem cell material onto cartilage which get to work naturally repairing the damage.
Researchers say the biopen is a mobile version of 3D printing and puts that capability directly into the hands of the surgeon, just like the scalpel.
Here’s how it works: the biopen, which is 3D printed from medical-grade plastic and titanium, delivers the cell material inside a hydrogel that houses, supports and protects living human stem cells. This is the bioink inside the pen. This is applied layer-by-layer (3D printed) around the wound site by the surgeon. The device has a low-powered ultra violet light which sets the bioink to protect the embedded cells while they multiply and and get busy repairing the cartilage. Similar to those old-school Bic four color pens, this biopen has custom nozzles which allow printing of multiple ink formulations in a collinear (side-by-side) geometry.
The study showed that one week after drawing/printing the cells, 97% of the human cells maintained were alive.
According to the study, http://www.electromaterials.edu.au/case-studies/case-studies/case-study-1/ the biopen paves the way for the use of 3D bioprinting during the surgical process and personalizes the process to each person. The new research was featured this week in the journal Biofabrication. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1758-5090/8/1/015019/pdf
MAR 25, 2016
Jennifer Hicks
CONTRIBUTOR
Click for video:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2016/03/25/this-handheld-surgical-biopen-can-draw-stem-cells-to-repair-cartilage/#28df449964a1
There are about 50 million people worldwide with doctor-diagnosed arthritis. That number is expected to rise to 67 million by 2030. Arthritis is a disease of the joint where the cartilage between the joints breaks down and makes movement painful and can require orthopedic surgery. The average orthopedic surgeon performs 29 procedures each month the most common procedures are sports medicine, hand surgery and joint replacement.
What if an orthopedic surgeon didn’t have to use a scalpel to operate when performing some of these surgeries? What if the surgeon could use a pen to draw on personalized cell material onto the damaged cartilage, letting it heal itself with its own cells?
Sound too far out there?
Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science in Melbourne, Australia have created a proof-of-concept biopen that uses 3D printing methods to draw a gel-like stem cell material onto cartilage which get to work naturally repairing the damage.
Researchers say the biopen is a mobile version of 3D printing and puts that capability directly into the hands of the surgeon, just like the scalpel.
Here’s how it works: the biopen, which is 3D printed from medical-grade plastic and titanium, delivers the cell material inside a hydrogel that houses, supports and protects living human stem cells. This is the bioink inside the pen. This is applied layer-by-layer (3D printed) around the wound site by the surgeon. The device has a low-powered ultra violet light which sets the bioink to protect the embedded cells while they multiply and and get busy repairing the cartilage. Similar to those old-school Bic four color pens, this biopen has custom nozzles which allow printing of multiple ink formulations in a collinear (side-by-side) geometry.
The study showed that one week after drawing/printing the cells, 97% of the human cells maintained were alive.
According to the study, http://www.electromaterials.edu.au/case-studies/case-studies/case-study-1/ the biopen paves the way for the use of 3D bioprinting during the surgical process and personalizes the process to each person. The new research was featured this week in the journal Biofabrication. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1758-5090/8/1/015019/pdf