Photos: The robot that is going to 3D print a human heart

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  The BioAssembly Bot

  The BioAssembly Bot is a robot created by Advanced Solutions in partnership with researchers at the University of Louisville to assemble and 3D print human tissue.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  TSIM software

  A patient's MRI is used in Tissue Structure Information Modeling (TSIM), the software that Advanced Solutions built to work in conjunction with the BioAssembly Bot (BAB). The software is designed to allow doctors and scientists to easily manipulate patient-specific data to build and print tissue structures, without having to work with 3D printing CAD software.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  A bioprinting robot

  Dr. Jay Hoying explains how the BAB works. The six axis robot is on wheels because eventually, the team wants it to roll into an operating room to print tissue at a doctor's command. The entire package, including TSIM software, costs $159,995.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  The entire package

  The prints can be controlled remotely on a computer with the TSIM software, if a doctor or scientist is in an office, or on this screen, directly next to the robot.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  Printing using hydrogel

  To print prototypes, Advanced Solutions and researchers from the University of Louisville are using hydrogel, which is what is inside gel caps. The material is a good consistency and easy to print with.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  A seamless process

  On the screen, a camera shows a close-up image of what the needle is doing and how accurate the print is. The BAB can print in, around, and on top of a structure, which is critical when building human tissue.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  BAB's future

  The BAB will be available to doctors and researchers. It is meant to democratize biology, in a way, so that developments in science can happen at a faster rate.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  The BioAssembly Tool

  The BioAssembly Tool (BAT) resides inside the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII), where Dr. Stu Williams and Dr. Jay Hoying have been working on isolating fat cells and turning them into heart cells to print. Until now, they have used the BAT for their trials.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  The traditional printing process

  The BAT prints models of a capillary bed using hydrogel. The machine, as technologically advanced as it is, is much slower than the BAB. The robot arm is only a three-axis and does not like to print in circular shapes, which is important for printing human tissues.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  Printing a capillary bed

  Dr. Hoying holds a model of the capillary bed. After printing a mold of the capillary bed using hydrogels (i.e. from gel caps), the material is dissolved by being cooled it is cooled and flushed out, creating hollow channels for regenerative fat-derived cells to then be pushed through to form the vascular walls.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  Two versions from the BAT

  On the right is the new mold of the capillary bed, which took three trials to print and still turned out wrong. Much of the process is trial and error.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  The traditional method

  The BAT requires the researchers to script the calculations for the geometric shapes by hand. It is a lengthy process that results in a lot of trial and error.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  Model heart

  Advanced Solutions printed a model of a heart using a FDM 3D printer. It sits in the lobby of their office in Louisville, Kentucky.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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  Creations for BAB

  Plastic models of the tissues the team at Advanced Solutions and University of Louisville want to eventually build using biological material sit in the lobby of the Advanced Solutions office.

  SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

  Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

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The BioAssembly Bot

The BioAssembly Bot is a robot created by Advanced Solutions in partnership with researchers at the University of Louisville to assemble and 3D print human tissue.

SEE: New 3D bioprinter to reproduce human organs, change the face of healthcare: The inside story

Image: Lyndsey Gilpin/TechRepublic

About Lyndsey Gilpin

Lyndsey Gilpin is a former Staff Writer for TechRepublic, covering sustainability and entrepreneurship. She's co-author of the book Follow the Geeks.

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Disclosure

Lyndsey Gilpin has nothing to disclose. She doesn't hold investments in the technology companies she covers.

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Full Bio

Lyndsey Gilpin is a former Staff Writer for TechRepublic, covering sustainability and entrepreneurship. She's co-author of the book Follow the Geeks.

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