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[ Electronics and Information Technology ]
	Proiect Leader : Makoto Nakamura

Extensive clinical experience with organ transplantation medicine has proven that even terminal patients with irreversible organ failure can be saved and can return to a healthy life after the deteriorated organ is replaced with a healthy donor organ. However, the shortage of donor organs is a serious problem. The waiting period is becoming progressively longer, and it will be very difficult to ensure transplantation in the near future due to the lack of donor organs.
Recently, many researchers have taken up the challenge of research aimed at artificially producing biological tissues and organs. This research field is called “tissue engineering,” and is one reasonable approach to solving the problem of donor organ shortages. Up to the present, therapy using engineered tissues has been clinically applied to simple tissues such as skin, cartilage, and cornea, and application to other important organs is significantly anticipated.

The method has not yet been established to construct and produce complicated thick tissues, although many researchers have tackled this research theme in several approaches in laboratories.
In this project, we are going to study an innovative method called “ Bioprinting”. In Bioprinting, living cells and proteins are directly and precisely positioned and arranged at the respective intended position. Printing and manufacturing can be done according to the digital data freely designed in computer. We plan to study bio-specialized printing technique and to develop a high performance bioprinting machine, by applying color inkjet, multi layer printing, and precision technologies. With the aid of computer and machines hands, we aim to produce some engineered tissues at final stage, beyond conventional procedure, or beyond human skills.

Organ Transplantation and Tissue Engineering

Contents of Research

Fig. 1 Characteristics of biological tissues Fig. 2 Resolution of inkjet printer Fig. 3 On-demand Bioprinting

The characteristics of biological tissues are 1) microscopic structure, 2) composition including a variety of components such as multiple kinds of cells and proteins, and 3) 3-dimensional structure. Therefore, a key technology for tissue engineering is a technique which makes it possible to position multiple types of cells precisely onto intentionally-targeted spatial positions in three dimensions, with resolution corresponding to that of native tissue. To enable such work, we are planning to design and produce a bioprinting machine applying color inkjet, laminating printing, and precision technologies. 1) Application of inkjet and specialization for bioprinting Makers of familiar commercial inkjet printers often advertise “picoliter” control of ink droplets. In our preliminary examinations, we recognized and confirmed that inkjet printers are high performance machines which are capable of ejecting such small amounts of ink droplets precisely onto respective positions at a speed of a few ten thousand droplets per second. Resolution is almost the same as in individual cells. However, in bioprinting, we must directly deal with living cells and raw biomaterials, which are very different from conventional printing inks. We therefore intend to investigate the influence of inkjet printing on living cells and bioactive proteins to identify the best printing methods and innovate a method of building up soft but solid 3-dimensional structures with those biological materials. 2) Designing and manufacture of biological tissues by bioprinting In bioprinting, tissue designing is also essential. We plan to obtain 3-dimensional digital data for native organs such as the heart and liver from histological specimens and design reasonable artificial tissues based on bioengineering theory. Using those data and the developed bioprinting machine, our ultimate aim is to produce innovative living tissues.

Organization of Research

Period: from April 2005 to March 2008

Staffs: Project leader, Researchers, Research fellows from other universities / companies, and secretary

Location: Techno-Hub-Innovation-KAWASAKI (THINK), in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa, JAPAN

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