Microgravity bioprinting

[1] The zero gravity environment circumvents some of the current limitations of bioprinting on Earth including magnetic field disruption and biostructure retention during the printing process.

[2] Microgravity bioprinting is one of the initial steps to advancing in space exploration and colonization while furthering the possibilities of regenerative medicine.

[5] The magnetic and acoustic levitation field creates a zone that acts like a scaffold to provide support for the bioprinting process.

An American-based company named Techshot printed the first cardiac and vascular tissue in a microgravity environment using a bioink consisting of adult human stem cells and a nScrypt bioprinter developed specifically for zero gravity use.

[8] Techshot begins developing a specific microgravity use bioprinter to send to the International Space Station (ISS).

On Earth, the fragility of blood vessels result in the structure collapsing due to the cell weight combined with the force of gravity.

Once the cell culturing process is complete, the printed delicate tissue structures are expected to be functionally no different from their natural counterparts.

Microgravity Bioprinting utilizes the advantages of the zero gravity to print organ and tissue structures that are sensitive to gravitational and cellular weight.

The microgravity environment enables usage of low viscosity bioinks while still allowing the bioprint to form a fully cell based 3D structure.

As microgravity bioprinting improves and evolves, the possibility of printing artificial organs presents an opportunity to further space exploration and colonization.