SOP BioPrint

More than 10,000 patients were waiting for a donor organ at the beginning of 2018, around three quarters of them for a kidney. That is around three times as many people as transplants can be provided. One visionary approach to meeting this challenge is the production of artificial organs that do not differ in appearance or function from their natural counterparts.

Organs produced using 3D printers (3D bioprinting) could close this supply gap in the distant future. However, in addition to a deeper understanding of cell biological processes and the provision of suitable process and manufacturing methods, fundamental technical challenges still need to be solved in the field of materials research. This applies in particular to the provision of suitable "bioinks", i.e. mixtures of 3D-printable biocompatible polymers with cells, which are sometimes the most challenging part of 3D bioprinting. In recent years, some progress has been made in the provision of bioinks. However, the different manufacturing processes, processing and characterization methods used make it difficult to directly compare measurement results.

The joint project "SOP_BioPrint" therefore aims to establish suitable standards for the production, processing and characterization of bioinks. This enables an objective evaluation of research results and thus contributes to an acceleration of knowledge and expertise in the future field of "bioprinting".