CollPlant Ltd, a regenerative medicine company headquartered in Israel, recently introduced a new BioInk that can be used in the 3D printing of tissues and organs.
CollPlant’s New BioInk May Transform Transplant Medicine
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One of the biggest hurdles to fabricating organs and tissues using 3D printing has been finding the right material for the printing media. But the team at CollPlant believes that they have found the magical formula.
According to CollPlant CEO Yehiel Tal, “The 3D printable BioInk should match in one hand the technical requirements of the specific printing technology, and on the other hand provide tissue-specific mechanical properties while supporting cell growth and proliferation. Meeting this should require highly homogenous BioInk solutions with fine-tuned rheological properties at relatively high concentrations.”
Type I Collagen seems to fit that bill because it is a major structural component of the extracellular matrix, so Collplant formulated the new BioInk from plant extracted Type I rhCollagen.
Photo-reactive methacrylated versions of the rhCollagen are mixed with relevant photo initiators and exposed to UV or visible light and then a scaffold is formed with controllable physical properties that can be matched to the desired tissue.
“The BioInk was tested mixed with different cell types, in different printing technologies and showed excellent support for cell survival and proliferation. The novel BioInk formulations were used successfully with different technologies including inkjet, extrusion, laser-assisted printing and Stereolithography,” Tal said.
CollPlant is working with leading institutes and companies worldwide to implement the rhCollagen based BioInk in many indications.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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