Tech & Innovation in Healthcare

Answer: 3D bioprinting is an incredibly innovative method to study conditions and explore treatment options. By mixing bioinks and living cells, scientists use 3D bioprinting to construct natural, three-dimensional structures.

Researchers around the world are exploring the technology’s capabilities, and here’s one example.

Mayo Clinic researchers announced in July 2023 that they’ve developed a 3D bioprinted human skin prototype that can model certain skin diseases. Researchers can produce a lifelike human-like skin model to study skin conditions, such as eczema.

Researchers are hoping to use the cells of patients with eczema to accurately replicate the skin condition, so they can test and evaluate different treatment options such as topical and injectable regenerative therapies.

The researchers found that 3D bioprinting skin takes significantly less time to manufacture than human plasma-based bilayered skin, which is typically used for burn treatment and surgical wounds. In that comparison, the bilayered skin requires approximately three weeks for production, whereas 3D bioprinting can be performed in under 35 minutes.

Not all facilities may have access to 3D bioprinting equipment, which the researchers acknowledged. However, there is hope for advancements in the technology to allow for “attaining the native features of human skin and adapting them to the multifactorial aging process,” the researchers wrote.