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BIOPRINTING BY LIGHT-SHEET LITHOGRAPHY: ENGINEERING COMPLEX TISSUES WITH HIGH RESOLUTION AT HIGH SPEED

Project description

A bright idea for bioprinting enhances feature resolution, processing time and flexibility

Additive manufacturing, also called 3D printing, had its start in the 1980s. With the emergence of commercial 3D printers and compatible computer-aided design (CAD) tools, 3D printing revolutionised prototyping and small lot production. It also led to the creation of 3D bioprinting. 3D bioprinting uses cells and other biocompatible materials as 'inks' to create living structures that mimic the behaviours of tissues and organs. The EU-funded BRIGHTER project plans to advance current state-of-the-art 3D bioprinting with significant enhancements in temporal and spatial resolution by employing a unique top-down approach rather than the conventional bottom-up one. Its photo-crosslinking technology will also enable tuneable matrix stiffness, enhancing opportunities for research and business.

Objective

Engineered tissues are key elements in both in vitro and in vivo applications, strongly impacting the academy, pharma and clinical sectors. Bioprinting is considered the most promising method to produce such engineered tissues. However, current bioprinting methods are severely limited by both insufficient speed and spatial resolution. Long printing times decrease cell viability, while poor spatial resolution fails to recreate the heterogeneous nature of native tissues. BRIGHTER will develop a new bioprinting technology able to produce tissue surrogates with high spatial resolution at high printing speed using an original top-down lithography approach, in contrast with current bottom-up, layer-by-layer bioprinting methods. BRIGHTER will combine high-speed light-sheet illumination and high-resolution digital photomasks to selectively photocrosslink cell-laden hydrogels in confined voxels and produce three-dimensional complex geometries. This process will enable the bioprinting of key anatomical microfeatures of tissue such as invaginations, evaginations or wavy morphologies. It will also incorporate hollow vascular structures while maintaining tissue mechanical integrity without the need of additional sacrificial material. As a remarkable feature, matrix crosslinking density can be fine-tuned using BRIGHTER’s approach, allowing the fabrication of cellular compartments requiring specific matrix stiffness such as stem cell niches. The proof-of-concept application will be bioprinting viable engineered skin tissues exploiting the key features of the BRIGHTER device: skin appendix (hair follicles, sweat glands), stem cell niches and a vascular network. The ultimate goal is to provide a superior alternative to state-or-the art 3D bioprinting with a disruptive bioprinting technology that would create new scientific and business opportunities.

Call for proposal

H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020

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Sub call

H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01

Coordinator

FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE BIOENGINYERIA DE CATALUNYA
Net EU contribution
€ 750 106,25
Address
Carrer baldiri reixac planta 2a 10-12
08028 Barcelona
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 811 774,25

Participants (5)