Swansea spin-out is the alpha and omega

3Dynamic Systems, a spin-out of Swansea University, is releasing two 3D bioprinters dubbed Alpha and Omega.

The company is hoping to use the bioprinters to create transplantable bone and complex tissue constructs. The process is based on research by Daniel Thomas, senior research officer at the university’s Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating. The printing is based on stem cellular materials, which can be turned into specific tissue.

The Alpha bioprinter has been designed to deal with bones, while the Omega has been designed to print soft tissues. Omega is currently able to produce tissues of a high enough quality for pharmaceutical trials.

Daniel Thomas, founder of 3Dynamic, said: “These bioprinters are capable of depositing a range of biologically active and biologically compatible materials. This exciting breakthrough in tissue engineering technology developed by 3DS could one day be used to treat severely injured patients and samples of the tissues that the machines produce are currently on display at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at National Museum of Health and Medicine Silver Spring, Maryland. 3DS easy-to-use technology could see a greater adoption of bioprinting research and further innovation in the short-term by enabling researches in the field to effectively produce experimental tissues and multiple tissue types on demand.”