Vital3D Talks Shaping the Future of Medicine With Organ Bioprinting

The use of 3D bioprinting in regenerative medicine continues to grow. More and more companies are developing their own additive manufacturing solutions to create organs and tissues tailored to the needs of individual patients. With this in mind, biotech company Vital3D offers advanced solutions for medical research, drug discovery and regenerative medicine. The aim? To integrate cutting-edge 3D bioprinting technologies (such as two-photon polymerization) that will shape the future of medicine through personalized patient treatment. We spoke to the company’s CEO to find out more about its manufacturing systems and his vision of the current state of 3D printing in the healthcare sector.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your connection with 3D printing?

My name is Vidmantas Sakalys and I’m the CEO of Vital3D Technologies. With a background in computer engineering, I have over 20 years’ practical experience in the management of various IT companies. Later, fate decided to give me the chance to get to know the laser microfabrication industry, and I’ve now been working in the field of photonic innovations for over 10 years. Lasers are very effective for 3D printing models that require very high precision. So it was my knowledge of laser manufacturing that led me to the field of 3D bioprinting.

Vidmantas Sakalys, CEO of Vital3D

3DN: Could you tell us about Vital3D?

Vital3D is a pioneering Lithuanian-based biotech company dedicated to innovating advanced solutions in medical research, drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Founded in 2021, Vital3D’s team of experts has introduced innovative bioprinting technology aimed at bridging the gap between organ supply and demand, specializing in the 3D printing of human organs, in particular the kidney. With a staff of 10, we have experts in lasers, biotechnology, software programming and mechanical engineering.

Having lost one of my mentors to urinary cancer while working at a previous startup, I always wanted to create a technology to help this type of terminal illness. With a colleague who specializes in lasers, we thought that light could be a perfect tool for the life sciences – could we use it to print new human organs to deal with situations like those my mentor experienced? And so, at the end of 2021, the idea of a 3D bioprinter to print kidneys was born.

We offer the Vital Light 3D printer as a device for research institutes working in the life sciences. At the same time, we offer a printing service for the creation of medical devices, tissues and organs. Our vision is to become a service provider for 3D printing of tissues and organs.

3DN: How does Vital3D’s 3D bioprinting technology work and what are its applications?

Vital3D’s bioprinting process is based on the use of laser light as a printing tool. Unlike molecular spraying, this process uses a light source directed at the photosensitive bioink to harden the material under the “pressure” of light. The printed structure emerges from the bio-ink pool.

Imagine drawing a picture with a pen, coloring it piece by piece. Now imagine you have to paint the whole wall: with the pencil, it would take you forever. To paint faster, we can use a wider brush to color larger surfaces. This is the essence of Vital3D’s dynamic light manipulation technology, called FemtoBrush. The shape of the laser beam changes on the fly to represent the pencil, the brush or even more sophisticated shapes like the ellipse.

Stent created with Vital3D’s technology

By introducing this innovation to light-based bioprinting, we hope to meet the challenge of vascularization in organ printing. The pen can be as small as 1 micron, to print the smallest vascularization, and switching to brush mode will speed up the printing process hundreds of times, to enable the printing of an entire kidney in 24 hours.

3DN: What are the main advantages of 3D printing for organs, and what are its limitations?

3D organ bioprinting is a rapidly advancing field of medicine, but it is not yet possible to print fully functional, transplantable human organs. Although there are reports of bioprinted tissue being successfully transplanted into animals, the leap to human transplantation is still a long way off.

The complex biology of organ transplantation and the need for long-term compatibility and functionality are the challenges that researchers are still working on. The vascularization (creation of blood vessels) of bioprinted tissue remains a major challenge. Without a functional vascular network, it is difficult to keep 3D-printed organs alive and functional.

So what can we already print in 3D? Tissue and organ models, organoids (miniatures), surgical models, dental and personalized implants, prostheses, hearing aids, drug delivery devices, personalized surgical tools and, last but not least, patient-specific guides.

3DN: How do you see the future of 3D bioprinting in the medical field?

Although the long-term vision of printing any part of a human being is compelling, it is likely to be a gradual process evolving over many years. Most researchers working in this field agree that 15 to 20 years is a reasonable timeframe for the appearance of the first large-scale 3D bioprinted human organ. As technology advances and knowledge of biology deepens, it is possible that in the future a wider range of human body parts, from complex organs to intricate tissues, will be accessible to 3D printing and transplantation. I imagine that bioprinting could extend the human lifespan, making the second half of our lives more enjoyable.

Vital3D’s bioprinting system enables the creation of multiple models for personalized medicine

3DN: Any last words for our readers?

The use of bioprinters in the medical field represents a promising and ethical change, not only in transplantation, but also in disease research and drug development. Printing organoid or organ-on-a-chip models and tissues can create more humane models (compared to current animal models) and would increase the precision and efficiency of the research process, ultimately leading to new advances in medicine. Currently, the development of organ-on-a-chip models is growing exponentially, suggesting a promising future for the active adaptation of this technology to research.

As technological innovations continue to improve the reproducibility, complexity and scalability of organ-on-a-chip models, researchers will be able to draw on an increasingly refined set of tools to understand human physiology and pathology. These advances could not only revolutionize our understanding of disease at the cellular and molecular level, but also drastically reduce the need for traditional methods of animal experimentation, paving the way for a new era of more humane and effective approaches to biomedical science. Further information is available on the Vital3D website HERE.

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*All Photo Credits: Vital3D