VUB-UGent spin-off BIO INX has achieved a major milestone as its polyester-based shape-memory resin, DEGRES INX®, was successfully used for 3D printing aboard the International Space Station (ISS). During Mission AXLM-3, American firm Auxilium Biotechnologies used the resin with its autonomous bioprinting platform to manufacture 28 nerve repair implants in microgravity, alongside kidney, liver, and cartilage tissue constructs.
According to Auxilium, this was the first mission in which a single orbital manufacturing platform produced both living tissues and implantable medical devices during the same spaceflight. It was also the first reported manufacturing of kidney and liver tissue in space.
"At BIO INX, we are incredibly proud to see our resin successfully printed in space for the first time," said Jasper Van Hoorick, CEO and co-founder of BIO INX.
The microgravity environment allows for uniform cell distribution and complex geometries. These conditions could support the development of increasingly sophisticated tissue constructs, biomedical research models, and implantable devices that are difficult to manufacture on Earth.
Image courtesy of Auxilium Biotechnologies: 3D printed nerve repair implant printed aboard the ISS using BIO INX’ DEGRES INX resin.