Researchers are #3D #Printing #Living #Brain #Tissue to Eventually #Treat #Brain #Disorders

Harrison Hecht
Category: 3D Printing / BioPrinting / Psychiatry / Neurology
Industry: Health
Location: Melbourne, Australia / Singapore
Related to: Health / Tech
Reviewer: Harrison Hecht
Company:  University of Wollongong and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
Website: https://3dprint.com/28185/3d-printed-brain-tissue/

In 2014, researchers at the  University of Wollongong and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne in Australia began conceptualizing 3D printing a brain.  3D printing of organs is called “bioprinting”  and is hypothesized as a solution to what neuroscience has a lacked an answer to in regards to brain trauma, thought disorders, and beyond; the motive utilizes stem cells to correct brain damage and disorders such as Schizophrenia and Epilepsy. Jeremy Crook (Singapore), the first to use stem cells in psychiatric modeling, claims that stem cells can be used to fabricate organs and brain tissue via 3D printing and other methods.  These tissues could restore function and prevent people from onsets of Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s. Crook believes that cell control and tissue engineering could be supported by a combination of natural and synthetic tissues. Understanding disease processes, drug development, and tissue replacement therapy are positive outcomes associated with bioprinting; however, bioprinting  is not completely understood yet and will take time to develop.

*Note:  I also found this article from MIT discussing reproduction of skin via 3D printing. This is probably the first thing that will happen in terms of feasible  “bioprinting” and it will impact health, cosmetics, skincare:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603511/3-d-printed-skin-leads-the-way-toward-artificial-organs/