3D Bioprinting Solutions 3D Bioprinting Solutions

The mission of the 3D Bioprinting Solutions Laboratory is the practical development and implementation of 3D technologies - bioprinting in regenerative medicine in Russia. The company is developing technology for three-dimensional bioprinting of organ constructs from autologous patient cells.

A total of 100,000 organ transplants are performed worldwide each year. According to 2017 data, about 25-30% of waiting queues for transplantation die, for example, every day in the United States alone, about 17 patients die without waiting for surgery.

The results of the 3D Bioprinting Solutions studies can help solve the problem of incompatibility of donor organs, make it possible to obtain prototypes of organs and develop effective methods of tissue replacement that allow you to completely return lost functions and organs.

History

2025: In Russia, eardrums began to be printed on a 3D printer. They are already returning hearing to patients

At the end of September 2025, it became known that the Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions began manufacturing eardrum implants using a bioprinter. It is assumed that in the future such products will help return hearing to thousands of patients.

Youssef Hesuani, Managing Partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, spoke about the achievements in the field of printing living fabrics. According to him, the company has achieved significant success in the relevant area. The developed technologies are used at the Sverzhevsky Research Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, where 3D-printed eardrums returned hearing to four dozen patients, including SVO veterans.

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Фото: Freepik

Over the past 1.5-2 years, we have made a significant breakthrough in the practical application of bioprinting technologies and left university laboratories for clinics and hospitals. In theory, the printers we have make it possible to make tens of thousands of eardrums per year, "Hesuani notes, quoted by TASS.

The managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions also emphasizes that Russia ranks first in the world in terms of readiness to introduce technology for printing living tissues and organ constructs into clinical practice. Within the framework of cooperation with the Department health care Moscow , it is planned to carry out hundreds of such implants annually over the next few years. In addition, negotiations are underway to include this methodology in the rates of compulsory health insurance.

3D Bioprinting Solutions, founded in 2013 by the private medical company Invitro, sets as its main goal the development of regenerative medicine technologies and the creation of artificial tissues and organs. The laboratory is engaged in the development and production of bioprinters and materials in the field of three-dimensional bioprinting.^[1]

2019

3D Bioprinting Solutions set to print ovary

On November 27, 2019, it was reported that the 3D Bioprinting Solutions biotechnology research laboratory is going to create the world's first human organ printed using bioprinting technology. It's going to be the ovary. This was announced by the scientific director of the biotechnology research laboratory Vladimir Mironov.

As he clarified, experts are already working on the creation of this body. The process of creating the ovary intends to robotize. Mironov explained the choice of the organ by the fact that only one cell is needed to prove its functioning.^[2]

3D printing of E. coli in microgravity

On October 10, 2019, information appeared that astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in the world printed E. coli on a 3D printer under microgravity conditions. This was done using a bioprinter from 3D Bioprinting Solutions.

A sample of E. coli is already located at the Institute. Academician N.F. Gamalei, where our colleagues analyze the results obtained. We want to test how aggressive and antibiotic resistant they became in space conditions, the scientists noted.

The leaders of the study explained that the main goal of the experiment on 3D printing in space is to obtain data that is expected to help in the development of antibiotics to combat resistant terrestrial bacteria.

Also during the experiment there will be an opportunity to study new diseases, the occurrence of which is not excluded during long flights.

As reported, recently on the ISS it was possible to print bacteria in zero gravity conditions. This is the first such experience, experts clarify. After printing, E. coli bacteria gathered in a biofilm - on Earth this happens with chronic bronchitis.^[3]

Completion of the experiment on bioprinting muscle tissue on board the ISS

As it became known on October 9, 2019, 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Meal Source Technologies, Aleph Farms and Finless Foods completed the first experiment on bioprinting muscle tissue aboard the ISS under microgravity conditions.

The basis of the joint project was the technology of magnetic bioprinting 3D Bioprinting Solutions, using a magnetic field instead of a biodegradable substrate for printing biomaterial. As part of the experiment, three types of tissues were grown - cattle tissue provided by Aleph Farms, fundulus fish tissue provided by Finless Foods, and rabbit tissue from Meal Source Technologies.

Cells are grown in a special nutrient medium, and then artificial muscle tissue is collected from them. On Earth, this process is slower, as it is limited by gravity, and meat grows in thin layers. Under ISS conditions, muscle tissue grows in all directions and this process occurs faster.

The project is supposed to lay the groundwork for finding renewable protein sources for long-term space missions. In addition, the results of the experiment will be used to expand the production capacity for growing meat on Earth.^[4]

The head of the bioprinting project, managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Youssef Hesuani, noted that now partner companies have plans to produce more artificial meat on the ISS, but for this, additional equipment must first be delivered to the station. According to Jesuani, bioreactors or devices are used on Earth to grow cell meat, which provide optimal conditions for the development of biological objects of the Sintecon brand. Also, 3D Bioprinting Solutions plans to use bioreactors that are available on foreign segments of the space station.

According to the director of Aleph Farms Didier Tubia, growing meat in this way will help preserve natural resources. He said that 10-15 thousand liters of water are spent on the production of a kilogram of ordinary beef, and the rejection of meat and dairy products is the best way to reduce the negative human impact on the environment. In meat production, there is a large release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which, in turn, can lead to global climate change.^[5]

An experiment is planned to "grow" artificial beef in a 3D bioprinter on the ISS

On February 28, 2019, it became known that MICROSEC a joint experiment "" and a 3D bioprinting Roskosmos laboratory for "growing" artificial beef, salmon and bluefin tuna are planned for October 2019. This was told by Youssef Hesuani the managing partner of the 3D Bioprinting Solutions laboratory.

The company's scientists in December 2018 already printed mouse thyroid tissue and human cartilage from living cells in zero gravity conditions on the ISS. At the same time, experts plan not to be limited to the field of regenerative medicine.

My colleagues from Roscosmos and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and I have described the term of future experiments until 2024. In 2019, we tentatively plan flights for July and October. I am not sure that we will definitely have time for July - we need to prepare a large amount of documentation - but we would very much like to be in time. And at the end of 2019, we are planning a project that seemed to me complete madness back in May 2018 - experiments on printing artificial meat. 'Youssef Hesuani, Managing Partner of 3D Bioprinting Solution '

These will be experiments on printing from synthetic materials, that is, not living cells will go into business, but ceramic materials. However, in space conditions, such materials begin to behave like living tissues, and scientists want to study this effect.

These experiments are designed to solve the problem of providing astronauts with power during long-distance flights. From muscle cells, a 3D bioprinter in zero gravity will try to "grow" the so-called "engineered meat."

The idea is to create self-replicating meat, self-replicating food. We can culture cells, the cells will divide right on the International Space Station, but to get muscle cells is not yet to get meat. "

Therefore, Russian scientists are going to work together with several American and European startups, Hesuani noted.

The experiment on printing organs in space was a joint project of Roscosmos, the medical company Invitro and residents of the Skolkovo Foundation - the 3D Bioprinting Solutions laboratory. The experience was recognized as successful: the structure of the resulting living tissues complies with the norms, but a detailed study of the behavior of cells delivered from space will still continue. In the future, the data of this study will form the basis of experiments in the field of regenerative medicine^[6].

2018

Sending a new 3D bioprinter to the ISS

On December 3, 2018, the spacecraft with the new ISS crew successfully launched from Baikonur. It houses a new magnetic 3D bioprinter to replace a device lost during the Soyuz-FG accident nearly two months earlier.

The Raketa carrier is to launch Soyuz MS-11 into space with cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and astronauts Anne McClain from the United States and David Saint-Jacques from Canada. Initially, their flight was planned for the end of December, but due to the October accident with a launch vehicle, it was postponed. 

According to RIA Novosti, the general director of Invitro (owns the developer of the bioprinter - the 3D Bioprinting Solutions laboratory) Alexander Ostrovsky, that lost bioprinter was not insured, so the company did not receive any payments and compensation. However, the losses turned out to be uncritical and the plans were not violated, since 3D Bioprinting Solutions had several bioprinters, he noted.^[7]

New 3D bioprinter sent to ISS to replace device lost in October 2018

3D Bioprinting Solutions has developed a bioprinter specifically for working in zero gravity. It works with spheroids about a couple of hundred micrometers in diameter, made up of living cells. Since printing must take place in zero gravity, the printer does not push spheroids through the nozzle, but collects them into the center of the printing area using a magnetic field. 

The magnetic 3D bioprinter is designed to grow living tissues and subsequently organs, but it can also be used to study the impact of space conditions on living objects in long flights. 

The first   accident in manned cosmonautics in the history of modern Russia occurred on October 11. The Soyuz-FG Raketa carrier was unable to launch the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with the new ISS crew into orbit, but the astronauts managed to evacuate in a rescue capsule to Earth. Members of the mission MKS-57/58 Russian Alexei Ovchinin and American Nick Hague were not injured.

The bioprinter was in a household compartment, which was deformed so badly when it landed hard that the cargo did not survive.

Preparation of the next 3D printer for sending to the ISS

As it became known on October 16, 2018, the Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions does not intend to abandon plans to conduct experiments on space bioprinting and is preparing another 3D printer to replace the device destroyed as a result of the recent accident of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle.

The managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Youssef Hesuani, confirmed that the first sample of the domestic 3D 3D printer Organ.Auth was destroyed as a result of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle accident on October 11. The equipment was not in the descent capsule, but in the separated household compartment of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, which burned down in the atmosphere. But the company is already actively preparing a replacement.

As Jesuani explained, the 3D printer "has an understudy," which will soon go to the International Space Station instead of its deceased predecessor. The developers initially assembled three devices at once, one of which was used for ground tests, the second for crew training, and the third had to be installed on the ISS if it were not for the ill-fated accident. At the same time, it seems most likely that the equipment will be manufactured from scratch for re-shipment.

When exactly the re-launch will take place has not yet been announced. It is known that the option of sending an understudy on the Progress cargo ship is being considered, but such a scenario will be fraught with certain difficulties. The fact is that if the crew of the returning Soyuz methodically studied working with equipment on Earth, then the crew in orbit will have to get acquainted with the equipment on an emergency basis and at the same time remotely.

As you know, no one has yet been engaged in bioprinting in space, and Russian scientists claim primacy in this area. Meanwhile, American colleagues are preparing their own apparatus (in the illustration above) and a program of experiments on 3D printing of heart tissues. The 3D printer, commissioned by NASA by nScrypt and Techshot, is scheduled to be shipped in February 2019.^[8]

2017

3D printing of living tissues in space

In September 2017, it became known about the plans of 3D Bioprinting Solutions to establish 3D printing of living fabrics aboard the International Space Station (ISS) three years ahead of schedule.

Initially, the experiment on 3D printing of living tissues on the ISS was planned to be carried out in four years. Thanks to the connection of the units of Roscosmos, RSC Energia and TsNIImash, the term can be reduced to one year, TASS reports with reference to the press service of Roscosmos.

They noted that speeding up the implementation of the project, in particular, is possible by training the crew on a specially created simulator model of a bioprinter, and not on a real sample.

Tissue spheroids

The essence of the project is to create a magnetic bioprinter, which in the absence of gravity will be able to remove organoids and tissue structures sensitive to radiation. The results of the experiment will be able to help scientists study the possibilities of creating complex anatomical structures, as well as develop mechanisms to protect astronauts from the effects of radiation to which they are exposed during long-term manned projects.

The initiators of the project set tasks to study the possibility of creating more complex anatomical structures in zero gravity conditions, as well as to develop a system for protecting astronauts from space radiation during long manned flights.

The main goal of the experiment is to test a new method of biofabrication [artificial production of living organs - approx. TASS] of three-dimensional tissue structures in zero gravity conditions. All existing bioprinters today work on the principle of additive, that is, layer-by-layer production. In space - under microgravity conditions - it is possible to apply a fundamentally new approach to the "formative" production of fabric constructs and organoids, Roscosmos said.[9]

3D printer for printing human organs based on a magnetic trap

In July 2017, 3D Bioprinting Solutions introduced a new kind of 3D printer for printing human organs - based on a magnetic trap.

A new type of bioprinter introduced by 3D Bioprinting Solutions is magnetic. The bioprinter uses spheroids - biochernils created from stem cells. The bioprinter creates a magnetic trap in which the spheroids themselves assemble into tissue.

Magnetic trap bioprinter in working condition with inserted spheroid

As the representative of 3D Bioprinting Solutions explained to CNews, there is a theory that a magnetic bioprinter is able to more accurately reproduce the progress of tissue growth when working, similar to how it happens in a living organism than the Fabion printer^[10]. A magnetic bioprinter requires weightlessness.

In conditions of terrestrial attraction, the operation of a bioprinter requires a significant increase in the strength of magnetic fields. In addition, when working on Earth, printed fabrics are drawn.

To check the operation of the magnetic bioprinter in zero gravity conditions, 3D Bioprinting Solutions has agreed to send the device to the International Space Station.

2016: Agreement with the ORKK to develop a bioprinter for the ISS

August 04, 2016 United Rocket and Space Corporation (ORKK) (part of the state corporation Roskosmos"") signed an agreement with 3D Bioprinting Solutions on cooperation, within the framework of which it is planned to create a unique bioprinter for magnetic biofabrication of tissues and organ constructs in zero gravity conditions International Space Station (ISS) (). more about the project

2015: World's first mouse thyroid construct printed on Fabion printer

In 2015, the company developed the first 3D bioprinter - Fabion. The thyroid gland is printed on it in the laboratory. A feature of Fabion is the printing of the organ layer by layer from biomaterial.

In March 2015, the world's first functional organ construct of the mouse thyroid gland was printed.

In November 2015, 3D Bioprinting Solutions presented official data on mouse thyroid printing for the first time. The presentation was held as part of an international conference on biofabrication in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

A grant was received from Skolkovo on the topic: "Development and optimization of 3D bioprinting technology using the original 3D Bioprinter." Successfully reported for the grant.

The company is ready to develop modifications and customized versions of the bioprinter, as well as new models for the tasks of academic structures and institutions from various spheres of the economy (medicine, pharmaceutical industry, food industry, fashion and design industry, etc.)

2014: First domestic 3D bioprinter created

In the summer of 2014, it was announced the development and release of the first domestic 3D bioprinter of its own original design and design. The original technical and engineering solution is based on the features of its own bioprinting technology. A patent application has been filed.

Unique software has been developed.

Work is underway to create an integrated technological platform for biofabrication.

Their own biochernils are being created, the technology of mass production of tissue spheroids has been mastered.

2013: The founder of the Invitro network with a partner create a company

3D Bioprinting Solutions was created by Alexander Ostrovsky, founder of the Invitro network of medical laboratories, and entrepreneur Youssef Hesuani. The company's developments are led by Vladimir Mironov, a Soviet scientist who emigrated to the United States but then returned to Russia. Mironov has a number of patents in the field of printing human organs.

A high assessment of the expert board of the Skolkovo Innovation Center was obtained. Member of Skolkovo since 2013. A modern research laboratory was built and equipped in Moscow (Kashirskoye shosse)

An international team of researchers has been formed. The intellectual potential and unique experience of leading experts in the regenerative medicine industry are combined. Collaboration is carried out at the international level of scientific groups working on the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Work began according to the approved concept under the scientific guidance of a tissue engineer, inventor of organ printing and bio-fabrication technology V.A. Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Three-Dimensional Technologies, CTI, Brazil; School of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Virginia State University, USA. The author of the patents "Making vascular prostheses from nanofibers"; "Apparatus for the production of fabric spheroids"; "Hydrogel for the Production of Bulk Tissue Structures," etc.

Notes