For 18 years, this publication has championed inkjet technologies in the printing, signage, textile, label and product marking areas. Such is the power of inkjet, now that ultra-small particles can be jetted through the nozzles, a new area of 'Bioprinting' has emerged, pioneered by an Australian company, Inventia Life Science. Using 'Bioinks' it allows human cells to be printed in three- dimensional structures .
Inventia's inkjet-powered Rastrum bioprinter
Inventia Life Science builds bioprinters and formulates Bioinks that together allow live human cells to be printed in three- dimensional structures and help forward-thinking pioneers in the fields of cancer research, drug discovery and medicine to create human tissue for research and therapy purposes. Its RASTRUM platform creates 3D cell cultures which closely imitate real human tissue in terms of its structure and behaviour across a range of disease states. The physiological complexity of these cell cultures provides an environment in which world-class research and discovery can occur, right in the researcher’s own lab. Inventia Life Science Pty Ltd was the vision of Dr. Julio Ribeiro and founded by him with Dr. Aidan O'Mahony, Dr. Cameron Ferris and Peter Arthur in 2013 and is headquartered in Akexandria, Sydney.
The company recently announced a co-operation with Merk division MSD, through which novel bioprinting capabilities offered by Rastrum will be utilised to create 3D in vitro models for the pre-clinical screening of neurodegenerative disease therapeutic candidates.
This will enable the generation of highly reproducible cell models that closely mimic the human brain. The collaboration aims to accelerate the drug discovery process by evaluating therapeutic candidates on 3D in-vitro models of various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Jill Richardson, Executive Director of Biology with MSD, London says: “The collaboration with Inventia leverages MSD’s deep expertise in neuroscience and drug discovery with Inventia’s novel 3D bioprinting platform to develop more relevant and translational models of the brain with the aim of enhancing pre-clinical screening for neurodegenerative disease candidates."
The patented printhead technology used is based in drop-on-demand inkjet, but needs only eight addressable nozzles to deposit the biomaterials - such as hydrogel - and cells. The result can be compared to 2D 'smear' microscope slides but in 3D and produced much faster, clinically and in multiples for testing various drugs in actual cancer cells, for example.
While 3D Bioprinting has been in existence for over 15 years, earlier systems tended to use extrusion or laser printing and are focused of tissue - reproduction, such as skin for burn victims using their own undamaged cels for reproduction. 3D Bioprinting of functional organs does seem far off but in the realms of possibility. Inventia's Rastum platform is a research-based solution for creating live 3D models that can be used to test various drugs and reagents.
A video can be seen HERE
