Project description
Advancing 3D bioprinting for human skeletal tissue modelling
There is considerable potential for creating human tissue models that accurately reflect the complexity of native biological systems through 3D bioprinting. Nevertheless, existing technologies dispense cells and biomaterials at fixed, predefined densities, thereby failing to reproduce the multicellular architecture essential for physiological processes like bone mineralisation. This limitation significantly impedes advancements in regenerative medicine and our understanding of developmental mechanisms. The ERC-funded BRIDGE project aims to address these obstacles by engineering an innovative microfluidic printhead designed to dynamically modulate cell density. Furthermore, it enables biomaterial stirring and real-time extrusion imaging throughout the fabrication process. Researchers will utilise this printhead to model skeletal embryogenesis and emulate pathological conditions such as Paget’s disease.
Objective
BRIDGE (Bioprinting with Real-time Imaging and cell-biomaterial Density for Growth Enhancement) wants to elevate 3D bioprinting with an unprecedented microfluidic-assisted approach for developing human skeletal tissue models, addressing gaps in control of the biofabrication deposition process, specifically cell-biomaterial density generation. Human tissues, such as bones, rely on graded cellular arrangements for physiological functions, yet mechanisms like mineralisation remain unclear due to inadequate models. Current 3D bioprinting techniques, typically dispense cells and materials at predefined single densities, but fail to replicate hierarchical, multicellular tissues, significantly hampering clinical advancements.
BRIDGE seeks to overcome these limitations by integrating real-time monitoring and tuning of cellular/biomaterial (bioink) density properties during 3D bioprinting. A ground-breaking microfluidic printhead will be engineered to modulate (i) cell density for spatial arrangement control, (ii) biomaterial stirring to guide mineralisation, and (iii) cell-biomaterial imaging for real-time extrusion observation. This system will surpass existing 3D bioprinting technologies by enabling time-resolved imaging and dynamic manipulation of bioinks to prime hierarchical biological processes, such as mineralisation. Advancing the control of bioinks beyond existing approaches, BRIDGE will unveil biological mechanisms in two key studies: (i) the development of a model that recapitulates native mineralisation, cellular differentiation, and vascularisation in skeletal embryogenesis, and (ii) the fabrication of a diseased model to emulate pathological skeletal conditions (e.g. Paget’s disease), serving both regenerative and developmental research. By bridging microfluidics, optics, biomaterial science, and developmental biology, BRIDGE will revolutionize 3D bioprinting enabling closer investigation and control of the deposition process for tissue model fabrication.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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00185 Roma
Italy
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