The project
The need to perform corneal surgeries has increased due to a number of factors, such as the gradual aging of the population or the increase in ocular accidents, but corneal transplantation is limited to the use of corneas from donors, and sometimes rejection occurs after surgery. For this reason, the possibility of making corneas, or at least part of them, is a very promising alternative for many surgeries that are on the waiting list.
Challenges
-
To produce the artificial cornea tissues of human origin with bioprinters. -
To develop natural bio-ink of human origin adapted to the printing process. -
To generate the right hardware and software for bioprinting.
The solution
To work with the Ophthalmological Institute Fernandez Vega to develop a pioneering and innovator project in the field of bioprinting.
Using 3D model, we have created bio-inks perfect for printing using structural proteins created from human and animal tissues. In parallel, we have developed a customized Bioprinter for the printing of these bio-inks which are able to print corneal tissue using certain configuration parameters. The tissue bioprinting process is controlled by the user through usable and accessible interfaces that allow complete process control and analytical exploration of results to ensure success in subsequent processes.
The result
Thanks to the creation of the 3D bioprinter, it was possible to print corneal tissue from bio-ink of human origin, ocular tissue structures were generated and the optimal deposition of the bio-ink molecules was achieved. In addition, the software developed allowed the control of all parameters of the operation using simple interfaces, with which we have achieved great progress in the area of tissue engineering.