Professor Tim Woodfield with the newly installed RegenHU bioprinting system.
The team at CReaTE has taken delivery of a state-of-the-art RegenHU bioprinting system – the first of its kind installed in Australasia.
The cutting-edge R-GEN 200 bioprinting technology was purchased due to backing from the University of Otago's Large Equipment Funding system, with help from UOC and other sources.
The Swiss-developed bioprinting machinery will further expand Otago University's state-of-the-art capabilities in the exciting bioprinting field, boosting research opportunities and advancing existing projects.
It will contribute directly to the work currently being undertaken by Professor Tim Woodfield, Associate Professor Khoon Lim and the team at UOC's CReaTE, using novel, light-activated bio-inks and bio-fabrication of complex tissues for research in the field of musculoskeletal regenerative medicine.
The bioprinter contains features that integrate and automate the design and bio-fabrication of living 3D tissues, including multiple print heads for simultaneous bioprinting of the University of Otago's patented bio-inks, melt extrusion and electro-writing of degradable polymers, plus low-volume dispensing of cells for high-throughput screening.
Professor Woodfield leads the Christchurch Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering (CReaTE) Group, which is associated with the University of Otago's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine as well as its Centre for Bioengineering & Nanomedicine.