3D printing will provide body parts of the future Thursday, 19 November 2015

3D printing burst onto the global stage in 2013 when the first working gun was made in Texas using the technology.

The public was split on whether 3D printing would hail a new era of cheap manufacturing, or be used for criminal purposes.

Now, a free online course on 3D printing is aiming to dispel the myths and introduce the public – and engineers and scientists alike – to the technology and its use in clinical applications.

The Bioprinting: 3D printing body parts course is being run through FutureLearn and will introduce students to the history of bioprinting, its techniques, and material selection. This will be taught using medical case studies, such as hip implants and facial transplants.

The course will be led by Gordon Wallace, Professor at the University of Wollongong; Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterial Science; and Director of the ANFF Materials Node.

Wallace was also involved in the launch of the world’s first biofabrication degree, which was developed in collaboration with four universities around the world – the University of Wollongong; the Queensland University of Technology; Utrecht’s University Medical Center in the Netherlands; and the University of Wüerzburg in Germany.

The two-year master’s program will include courses on biofabrication tools and methods, biomechanics, biofluids and research projects, and includes study in Australia and Europe.

Wallace said so far interest in the degree has come from materials, mechatronic and electronic engineers. However, it also has crossover in other sectors of the industry.

“Information technology and software engineering is also important. For a lot of the things that are printed for medical applications, the information is derived from the most recent advances in medical imaging and using the appropriate software to transpose that into files suitable for 3D printing,” Wallace said.

He said engineers also contribute to the design and material selection, as well as creating the actual machinery that is used to develop products.

For example, engineers have been involved in the Biopen, a project that is being run through a collaboration with the University of Wollongong and St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.

The pen utilises fat-derived stem cells from patients, which form the bioactive component of the ‘bioink’. Surgeons can then apply the bioink in the pen to a patient’s knee to create a community of cells to help heal an injury.

But despite the medical advances of 3D bioprinting, it is still an emerging industry and there are several challenges.

Some of those challenges are non-technical, such as dealing with regulations, community acceptance and ethical issues. Meanwhile, technical challenges include developing more sophisticated 3D bioprinting machinery, such as machines with varying resolution to create structures that have a complete hierarchy of dimensions within them.

Wallace said while the industry is receiving government support and funding, more resources and expertise are needed to convert opportunities on the commercial side.

“I just hope we’re nimble enough to be able to work with government and industry to (take advantage) of those opportunities in Australia,” he said.

So far commercial opportunities are coming from smaller companies, such as Venus Shell Systems, which can extract biomolecules from seaweed for 3D bioprinting. There have also been discussions with companies about manufacturing printers.

But it’s been slow. We’ve got to crash through this traditional approach to manufacturing – the large volume, low cost mentality. That tide is slowly turning and we’re starting to see smaller, younger companies that are willing to be engaged in these activities where the manufacturing will be customised and localised,” Wallace said.

In the future, Wallace predicts bioprinting facilities will be available or established in all major hospitals across Australia, and, eventually, across the world. This will require people that are trained in 3D bioprinting in planning, developing and maintaining those facilities.

However, Wallace said the industry could go one of two ways in Australia over the next two years.

“Either we will have established a foothold in 3D bioprinting in Australia or the opportunity will be lost. There’s that need for urgency on the commercialisation front. We all need to work together now,“ he said.

The Bioprinting: 3D printing body parts course begins November 23.

Wallace will deliver a keynote presentation at the Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference on November 24.