The workforce from the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS) utilises a 3D bioprinter to manufacture customised oral delicate tissue grafts, integrating AI into the method, to optimise bioprinting parameters, improve precision, and enhance effectivity. Credit score: NUS College of Dentistry
A workforce of researchers from the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS) has developed a way to manufacture customized gingival (gum) tissue grafts utilizing an modern mixture of 3D bioprinting and synthetic intelligence (AI).
Led by Assistant Professor Gopu Sriram from NUS College of Dentistry, the workforce’s strategy presents a extra customizable and fewer invasive various to conventional grafting strategies, which frequently contain harvesting tissue from the affected person’s mouth—a course of that may be each uncomfortable and constrained by the provision of appropriate tissue.
The 3D bioprinting and AI-enabled method has the potential to deal with key challenges in dental procedures extra successfully, comparable to repairing gum defects brought on by periodontal illness or issues from dental implants. As an example, by enabling the exact fabrication of tissue constructs tailor-made to particular person sufferers, the strategy can considerably enhance therapy outcomes, cut back affected person discomfort, and decrease the chance of issues, comparable to infections, throughout restoration.
The workforce’s analysis is revealed within the journal Superior Healthcare Supplies.
Turbocharging the bioprinting course of with AI
Gum tissue grafts are important in dental care, significantly for addressing mucogingival defects comparable to gum recession, and issues arising from periodontal illness or dental implants. Sometimes, these grafts are harvested from the affected person’s mouth. Although efficient, these procedures include vital drawbacks: affected person discomfort, restricted tissue availability, and a better threat of postoperative issues.
To beat these challenges, the researchers turned to 3D bioprinting, a method that fabricates custom-made tissue grafts tailor-made to the precise dimensions of every affected person’s defect. They developed a specialised bio-ink which helps the expansion of wholesome cells, whereas additionally making certain the fabric may be printed precisely and holds its form and construction.
Nonetheless, the viability of 3D bioprinting is simply pretty much as good because the parameters utilized in the course of the course of. Components comparable to extrusion stress, print velocity, nozzle dimensions, bio-ink viscosity and printhead temperature all play a vital function in figuring out the ultimate properties and efficiency of the printed part. Tuning these parameters has historically been carried out by way of tedious, guide trial-and-error experiments which can be extraordinarily time- and resource-consuming.
“To speed up the 3D bioprinting process, we integrated AI into our workflow to address this critical bottleneck,” stated Professor Dean Ho, Head of the Division of Biomedical Engineering within the School of Design and Engineering at NUS, and co-corresponding creator of the analysis paper.
“This approach greatly streamlines the process by reducing the number of experiments needed to optimize the bioprinting parameters—from potentially thousands to just 25 combinations,” added Prof Ho, who can be Director of the Institute for Digital Drugs (WisDM) at NUS Yong Lavatory Lin Faculty of Drugs, and N.1 Institute for Well being (N.1) at NUS.
This great effectivity enhance afforded by the workforce’s AI-driven workflow saves time and sources whereas making certain the creation of tissue constructs with exact dimensions and structural integrity.
“Our study is among the first to specifically integrate 3D bioprinting and AI technologies for the biofabrication of customized oral soft tissue constructs,” stated Asst Prof Sriram, who can be the Thrust Co-Lead of Dental and Craniofacial 3DP Functions at NUS Middle for Additive Manufacturing (AM.NUS). “3D bioprinting is by far more challenging than conventional 3D printing because it involves living cells, which introduce a host of complexities to the printing process.”
The bioprinted gum tissue grafts exhibited robust biomimetic properties, sustaining greater than 90% cell viability instantly after printing and all through an 18-day tradition interval. The grafts additionally retained their form and structural integrity, whereas histological analyses confirmed the presence of key proteins and a multi-layered construction intently resembling pure gum tissue.
The way forward for dental care
In dentistry, the power to supply customized gum tissue grafts with improved effectivity, structural integrity, and biomimetic properties might tackle longstanding medical challenges related to periodontal ailments and dental implants.
“This research demonstrates how AI and 3D bioprinting can converge to solve complex medical problems through precision medicine,” added Asst Prof Sriram. “By optimizing tissue grafts for individual patients, we can reduce the invasiveness of dental procedures while ensuring better healing and recovery.”
Excitingly, the potential implications of this analysis prolong past dentistry. “3D bioprinting allows us to create tissue grafts that precisely match the dimensions of a patient’s wounds, potentially reducing or eliminating the need to harvest tissue from the patient’s body,” stated Asst Prof Sriram.
“This level of customization minimizes graft distortion and tension during wound closure, reducing the risk of complications, surgery time and discomfort to the patients,” stated Dr. Jacob Chew, a periodontist, co-investigator of the research, and Tutorial Fellow at NUS College of Dentistry.
Moreover, the scarless therapeutic traits of oral tissue present a novel benefit, as insights from this research might inform the fabrication of comparable grafts for different barrier tissues, comparable to pores and skin, probably aiding within the scarless therapeutic of pores and skin wounds.
Future analysis will concentrate on translating these findings from bench to bedside. The workforce plans to conduct in vivo research to evaluate the mixing and stability of the grafts in oral environments. In addition they purpose to discover the mixing of blood vessels into the grafts by way of multi-material bioprinting to create extra advanced and purposeful constructs.
With these developments, the researchers hope to advance the sphere of regenerative dentistry whereas paving the best way for broader functions in tissue engineering.
Extra data:
Yichen Dai et al, 3D Bioprinting and Synthetic Intelligence‐Assisted Biofabrication of Customized Oral Delicate Tissue Constructs, Superior Healthcare Supplies (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202402727
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