The BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies expands its tissue engineering capabilities
A research team led by Prof. Dr. Georg Duda is endeavoring to innovate tissue engineering at the BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT). In cooperation with industrial partner Cellbricks Therapeutics Inc., the team integrated a modern, light-based bioprinter that can produce these tissues by precisely combining different cell types with other clinical-grade biomaterials. It is currently used for research and development processes that are designed to transition seamlessly into cleanroom facilities. This will ensure the safety and quality of 3D-printed tissues for clinical applications.
The first initiative where this infrastructure will be used is the “3DBioBreast” project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project’s aim is to help patients who have had a mastectomy, i.e. the amputation of a breast, to regain their sense of physical integrity. To do this, the researchers will use the bioprinter to make autologous breast fat tissue, that means tissue that is based on the patient's own cells.
“This process will enable us to produce high-quality implants that comply with the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice,” said Dr. Pratibha Dhumale, a scientist working on the project at the BCRT. “We are working hand in hand with the Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin and hope that these bioprinting technologies will be of benefit for patients in everyday clinical practice in the future.”
Additionally, Charité's Center of Advanced Therapies (BeCAT) will guide the Good Manufacturing Practice processing, approval processes and all relevant development work. Other academic partners involved in this project include the University Hospital Tübingen and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein.