Second-year students of the Bashkir State Medical University (BSMU) decided to celebrate Student's Day in a memorable way. They have developed a unique gel for 3D printing of artificial organs. It is reported that this innovative product promises to become a key element in accelerating the process of selecting implants for patients awaiting transplantation.
A year ago, proactive medical students united into a group called the "Technology Transfer Center." Initially, they wrote scientific articles, but then decided to move from theory to practice. The university supported them.
This is entirely a student idea; we, as a university, only acted as organizers. So to speak, we provided this opportunity for the realization of a student initiative. There is no secret here; it is a new application of a well-established biological material, well-established, which has been used for more than 30 years in clinical practice
Using dispersed collagen, processed using a special technique, the students created bio-ink, with the help of which it is possible to artificially create cells of various tissues and print organ transplants. The students' development will also help to stop animal testing.
The Matrigel component that we created is a component of bio-ink. That is, bio-ink consists of two components. The first is Matrigel or hydrogel and living cells that are grown separately in cell culture. In the future, this may lead to the fact that we will not use animals, such as rats, for example, now, but create artificial human-like models and train on them
The innovative substance created by scientists is called "Matrigel ALLOINK." It is made from collagen, most similar to that found in the human body. It does not contain any chemical additives that could be toxic to the body. This unique gel is developed on the basis of biological material discovered by the famous ophthalmic surgeon Ernst Muldashev – "Alloplant".
Already, students can print flat organs and cartilage — their first sample will be nasal septum cartilage. But their plans already include further improving the technology for 3D printing of more complex organs, such as the intestines. Ekaterina Nadezhdina, a member of the initiative group, emphasizes that the development of this area will actively affect transplantology, oncology and surgery in the coming decades.
Recently, another historic event in the field of medical 3D printing took place at the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N. N. Burdenko in Moscow - the world's first operation was performed using a bioprinter using "in situ" technology.