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Bioprinted mini pancreas will help in fight against diabetes
EPFL spin-off Readily3D has developed a novel system that can print biological tissue in just 30 seconds. The firm’s technology is being used in a large-scale European project to develop a living model of the pancreas for testing new drugs.
First you see it as a transparent shape on a computer screen – a small electronic replica of the human pancreas. Then just 30 seconds later the tissue is printed out on a bioprinter, blood vessels and all, from a sample of human stem cells. This amazing feat is possible thanks to revolutionary new technology created at EPFL’s Laboratory of Applied Photonics Devices (LAPD) and further developed by Readily3D. Their technology was recently selected for use in the EU-funded Enlight project, which aims to develop a reliable living model of the pancreas for testing diabetes medications.