What Do You Know About 3D Printing Human Skin?

A team of researchers recently showcased that it is possible to generate functional human skin with the help of 3D printing. According to a professor working at the Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering department at Carlos III University in Madrid, Jose Luis Jorcano, “this skin can be transplanted to patients or used in business settings to test chemical products, cosmetics or pharmaceutical products in quantities and with the timetables and prices that are compatible with these users,”

3D printing on human skin

The new kind of human skin happens to be one the first living organs of human body that are generated with bio printing that can be introduced for commercial purposes. It mimics the natural skin structure, the first layer is the epidermis that ha stratum corneum meant to protect inner layers from outer environmental surroundings along with another thicker deeper layer called the dermis. The innermost layer is the fibroblasts that generate collagen, a special kind of protein that grants skin with mechanical strength and elasticity.Bioinks have been quite significant for 3D bio printing. While skin is being created, the designers make use of injectors filled with biological components in place of colored inks and cartridges. Juan Francisco del Cafiizo, who works at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon, explains, “Knowing how to mix the biological components, in what conditions to work with them so that the cells don’t deteriorate, and how to correctly deposit the product is critical to the system.”

These bioinks have been patented by CIEMAT and certified by BioDAN Group and their deposition of such bioinks is administered by a computer that deposits these over a print bed in an arranged manner which then generate the skin. The tissue generation process can be pursued in two ways: one on a mass scale for industrial purposes that are done with the help of cells stock for allogeneic skin. The other one is meant for creation of autologous skin that is created by cells of patient itself. The researchers state that, “We use only human cells and components to produce skin that is bioactive and can generate its own human collagen, thereby avoiding the use of the animal collagen that is found in other methods.” The new technology numerous advantages like it allows skin production in an idealized automatic way on a low cost basis as compared to manual production procedure.