Indiana tech company takes to space to 3D-print a heart substitute
A Southern Indiana company miles from the interstate and close to the middle of nowhere is working with NASA on a project. But that’s normal for TechShot Inc.
John Vellinger, co-founder of Greenville-based TechShot, has worked with the national space agency for nearly 30 years, since winning an eighth grade science fair sponsored by NASA. Although the original science fair project focused on developing chicken embryos in space, the partnership has a new focus: creating human organs in zero gravity.
On June 14, TechShot helped create the first 3D heart bioprint, which can be used as a substitute for a heart. It was made from adult stem cells printed in zero gravity. The development will help people who need transplants, whether they’re on earth or in space.
The project required three layers — ink, printer and bioreactor — and, therefore, three companies. TechShot teamed up with Florida-based bioprinter nScrypt Inc. and Kentucky-based bioink creator Bioficial Organs Inc. for the project.
Gene Boland, chief scientist at TechShot, explained how the process works.
The heart structure uses bioink, which is a cell-filled gel that will grow into tissue in the shape it is printed. It’s about the consistency of Jell-O, and it sets around the same rate as Jell-O — which can be pretty slow.
This consistency and set rate make it difficult to create complex shapes without support , but the supports can block cells and hinder the project. In a zero-gravity situation — as in space — the structure can be made without supports, allowing the tissues to form.
“You can make a big hollow cavity in space because you can take the gravity factor out of it,” Boland said. From there, a bioprinter uses ink to make a 3D product with the cells, and a machine called a bioreactor is used to mature the cells until they form tissues and can hold up on earth.
The trio started small, with the June 14 structure consisting of the ventricles of a neonatal-sized heart. The experiment happened above the Gulf of Mexico in an aircraft able to produce zero-gravity situations, but only for about 25 seconds at a time. Boland said that was all the researchers needed to show they could quickly print a complex shape that didn’t sag.
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