UNC, NC State scientists collaborate to print human body tissues

Biomedical engineers and researchers from North Carolina State University, N.C., have partnered with University of North Carolina, N.C., scientists to create new body tissues using a patient’s own cells, which may help more patients avoid knee replacement surgery, reports WRAL, a local NBC affiliate in North Carolina.

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The researchers are bioprinting technology to help patients heal from injuries such as meniscal tears.

Rohan Shirwaiker, PhD, an associate professor at N.C. State who uses bioprinting technology to mimic natural tissues, believes this is as far as researchers have come to matching natural tissue function and structure.

He directs the hospital’s multidisciplinary 3D Tissue Biofabrication research group, which aims to develop scalable manufacturing technologies for engineered tissues, according to the NC State University website.

Dr. Shirwaiker has received more than $1.5 million in research grants from organizations including the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation. He also serves as the president-elect of the Manufacturing & Design Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers at N.C. State.

The bioprint cartilage technology is currently being tested in large animals at N.C. State’s School of Veterinary Medicine and is not available for use in human patients.

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