Astronauts face significant challenges during space travel that go beyond just launch and landing. Once astronauts are in orbit, they face dramatic physical deterioration due to zero gravity. Realistic test models are a necessity to study and treat the physical effects. A team of researchers at ETH Zurich is tackling this need using parabolic flights to 3D print viable muscle tissue under simulated microgravity.
Gravity hampers the production of fine, biological structures such as muscle tissue on Earth. Ultimately, researchers want to print structures that perfectly mimic natural alignment. However, gravity once again interferes with the process. For 3D printing, researchers use a special ink called bio-ink. This unique substance is a mixture of a carrier material and living cells.
However, the bio-ink’s weight can cause delicate structures to “collapse or deform before the material can harden.” Furthermore, gravity causes cells to sink unevenly. As a result, the models are less realistic.
Mimicking Human Muscle Tissue
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Eliminating these disruptive forces under microgravity enables the precise alignment of muscle fibers, exactly as they are in the human body. Precise construction is crucial. For example, only models that accurately reflect the human body provide reliable results when studying disease progression or testing new drugs.
The ETH Zurich research team developed a novel biofabrication system to achieve gravity-independent manufacturing. The system, called G-Flight (Gravity-independent Filamented Light), is designed to enable the rapid production of viable muscle constructs.
The team performed 3D printing during the fleeting weightless phases of 30 parabolic cycles. They did this by using a specialized bio-resin formulation. Results showed that the tissue printed in microgravity had “similar cell viability and a similar number of muscle fibers” when compared to tissue printed in normal gravity. Additionally, the process facilitates long-term storage of the cell-loaded bio-resins, which is a crucial factor for future space applications.
Creating the muscle constructs is significant for both tissue engineering and space biomedicine. Researchers aim to scale this technique to produce complex human organoids and tissues aboard the International Space Station or other future platforms.