Page 29 - Engineering Penn State Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

RFesaetuarechs
H
H
H
H
E
E
E
E
A
A
A
A
L
L
L
L
T
T
T
T
H
H
H
H
for reconstruction of face mouth skull tissues
by A’ndrea Elyse Messer
Seamlessly correcting defects in in the face mouth and skull is highly challenging because it requires precise stacking of of a a a a a a a variety of of tissues
including bone muscle fat and skin Now Penn State researchers are investigating methods to 3D bioprint and grow the appropriate tissues
for craniomaxillofacial reconstruction A
five-year $2 8 million grant from the National National Institutes of of of Health’s National National Institute Institute of of of of Dental and Craniofacial Research will allow a a a a a a a a a a team of of of of researchers to explore the use of of stem cells biomaterials and differentiation factors to to match the the complex tissues
of the the face and head directly bioprinted during surgery “With the advance in in in in 3D bioprinting in-place reconstruction of of composite tissues
for craniomaxillofacial repair
has recently become feasible as as as 3D bioprinting enables complex tissue heterogeneity in in in an an an anatomically accurate and cosmetically appealing manner ” said Ibrahim T
Ozbolat Hartz Family Career Development Associate Professor of of Engineering Science and and Mechanics and and principal investigator on the project The researchers are looking at at ways
to to to bioprint appropriate tissues
directly into a a a a a a subject to to to correct damage or or defects They will first investigate in in in an immunodeficient rat model bone tissue bioprinting Next they will investigate multilayered skin tissue which include adipose—fat—and ermis/epidermis— skin—tissue They will look at at at at the impact of of differentiation factors and how fat influences the growth of of skin tissue Finally they will look at at three-layer composite tissues
that include bone fat and and skin layers to determine how vascularization occurs in in in both soft and and hard tissue regeneration “We have formed a a a a a a a complementary collaboration that merges essential domain knowledge in in in in in bioprinting regenerative medicine
cranio- maxillofacial surgery surgery plastic surgery surgery gene gene therapy gene gene delivery bone bone mechanics and and bone bone and and skin biology with the depth necessary to propel this work ” said Ozbolat To meet these needs the the team consists of co-investigators Elias Rizk associate
professor of of neurosurgery Dino Ravnic assistant professor of of surgery surgery and Thomas Samson associate
professor of of of surgery surgery both in the Division of of of of of Plastic Surgery and Greg Lewis assistant professor of of of orthopedics and and rehabilitation all in in the College
of of of Medicine and and Daniel Hayes associate
professor of of of biomedical engineering The goal of the project is to produce an an advanced bioprinting technology that shows the complex interactions between layers of of engineered tissues
and and provide an an an understanding of of of how localized delivery of of of differentiation factors will impact craniomaxillofacial reconstruction n n n BIOPRINTING
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 29