Engineering news
Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in Spain have developed a prototype for a 3D bioprinter that can create functional human skin, which can be used for transplanting to patients or for use in research or the testing of cosmetic, chemical, and pharmaceutical products.
The human skin is one of the first living human organs created using bioprinting to be introduced to the marketplace, according to the researchers.
It replicates the natural structure of the skin, with a first external layer, the epidermis with its stratum corneum, which acts as protection against the external environment, together with another thicker, deeper layer, the dermis. This last layer consists of fibroblasts that produce collagen, the protein that gives elasticity and mechanical strength to the skin.
Bioinks are used for 3D bioprinting. When creating skin, instead of cartridges and coloured inks, injectors with biological components are used. The bioinks are controlled by a computer, which deposits them on a print bed in an orderly manner to then produce the skin.
Juan Francisco del Cañizo, a university researcher, said: “Knowing how to mix the biological components, in what conditions to work with them so that the cells don’t deteriorate, and how to correctly deposit the product is critical to the system.”
The process for producing these tissues can be carried out in two ways. One method is to produce allogeneic skin, from a stock of cells, done on a large scale, for industrial processes. The other method is to create autologous skin, which is made case by case from the patient’s own cells, for therapeutic use, such as in the treatment of severe burns. Human cells can generate their own human collagen, avoiding the use of the animal collagen.
Spanish bioengineering firm BioDan Group is collaborating on the research and commercialising the technology. The company's chief executive Alfredo Brisac said: “This method of bioprinting allows skin to be generated in a standardised, automated way, and the process is less expensive than manual production.”
Currently, this development is in the phase of being approved by different European regulatory agencies to guarantee that the skin produced is adequate for use in transplants on burn patients and those with other skin problems.
The research was published in the scientific journal Biofabrication.