Inside the body, cells are surrounded by an extracellular matrix (ECM), which in the case of many tissues exhibits a complex spatial anisotropic architecture. These structures are crucial for the function of many tissues, such as heart, cornea, cartilage, and meniscus. While 3D bioprinting has emerged as a powerful tool enabling the fabrication of patient-specific 3D constructs, current technologies still lack the ability to mimic ECM anisotropic structures. Therefore, bioprinted structures are often not functional according to the native tissues as cells are missing the ECM anisotropic physical and mechanical signals. Within the BioArchitecture project, we have developed a novel magnetic assisted bioprinting technology, which enables bioprinting 3D constructs with anisotropic architectures similar to human tissues. We have developed the required software and hardware allowing for layer-by-layer printing of a bioink according to a predesigned 3D model. This technology enables bioprinting tissue-like structures that can be used for modeling human tissues in the lab for applications, such as drug discovery and disease modeling. In the future, this novel printing technology can be used for printing organ like structures that can be directly transplanted into patients reducing the socioeconomic burden of long transplantation waiting lists.
