Aside from being one of the most profound tools that we use to explore the world, eyes are also extremely complex mechanisms. Composed of lenses, nerves, blood vessels, muscles and various other components, eyes are truly a natural wonder.
At the heart of the eye’s retina are two types of cells that receive information from the eye’s photoreceptors and protect retinal neurons: ganglion and glial cells.
In their experiment, researchers harvested ganglion and glial cells from a rat’s retina. Once collected, the cells were printed using a single nozzle piezoelectric inkjet printer that deposited cells in precise locations when an electrical impulse was applied to the print head. In the end, a high-resolution mat of purified ganglion and glial cells was printed, forming a patchwork of nervous system tissue.
Although the new bio-printing technique is still being developed, researchers believe more improvements to the technique could result in new methods from creating delicate nervous system tissues. “We plan to extend this study to print other cells of the retina and to investigate if light-sensitive photoreceptors can be successfully printed using inkjet technology. In addition, we would like to further develop our printing process to be suitable for commercial, multi-nozzle print heads," said Professor Keith Martin of the John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge.
Given that a number of eye diseases are caused by the degeneration of retina cells, the new research could lead to future cures for a variety of ailments that result in blindness.
Image and Video Courtesy of BioFabrication