3D bioprinting ‘living’ bone implants

Written by Georgi Makin

Scientists from KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium) have engineered ‘living’ bone implants, inspired by how bone tissue is created in an embryo.

A collaborative research team from KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium) has engineered ‘living’ bone implants by employing 3D bioprinting technologies, with the expectation that these implants will be available to patients in as few as 4 years.

This technique will allow us to produce tissue on an industrial scale in the near future. The construction of organoids is still done manually, but will soon be replaced by robotics,” Frank Luyten (University Hospitals Leuven) commented.

In preparation for the use of the new, engineered living implants in patients, we have been conducting experimental research with laboratory animals for many years, imitating the application in human beings down to the smallest detail,” added Orthopedic surgeon, Johan Lammens (KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven). “We want to be ready to use the new bone implants in patients.”

>> Read the full story on our sister website, 3DMedNet.

Sources: Nilsson Hall G, Mendes LF, Gklava C, Geris L, Luyten FP, Papantoniou I. Developmentally Engineered Callus Organoid Bioassemblies Exhibit Predictive In Vivo Long Bone HealingAdv. Sci. 7 (1902295) (2020); https://nieuws.kuleuven.be/en/content/2020/leuven-researchers-present-technique-to-grow-tissue-implants-for-bone-defects