3D Printing in Diabetes Model Micro-model

Diabetes is a health issue of billions of people around the world. How to diagnose it and make treatment works involves powerful models that faithfully represent human disease states. Efforts to model human diabetes with animal models or 2D cell cultures aren't very good at capturing the complexities of human diabetes. That's where 3D printing comes in and a new way to create more precise, functional diabetes model micro-models. In this post we learn about 3D printing technology and how it's used to make diabetes model micro-models.

Figure 1. Applications of 3D-printing technology in diabetes.( Amin R, et al.; 2024)

Diabetes Models Needed the Importance of New Diabetes Models

Diabetes mellitus is a form of diabetes where chronic hyperglycemia is caused by malfunctions in the insulin production, activity or both. This disease is multi-organ, involving pancreas, liver, muscles and fat tissues. Traditional models don't encapsulate the complex dynamics of these systems and translational studies can be lacking. So we need models that better simulate human diabetes pathology.

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3D Printing Technology: An Overview

3D printing (additive manufacturing) or 3D printing creates three-dimensional products out of a digital file. The technology creates objects layer by layer so you can have complete command over the design and content of the printed piece. Biomedical researchers have fashioned tissues, organs, even microfluidic machines with 3D printing. Because it can construct multi-material systems of any size, it is a perfect candidate for the creation of high-level disease models.

Model Micro-models 3D Printing Diabetes

Creating Pancreatic Islet Models

And among the most essential parts of diabetes research are pancreatic islets, networks of cells that control blood glucose. 3D printed pancreatic islet models that look as close to human islets as possible. They can print islet structures with bioinks – water-soluble liquids bursting with life cells. These reconstituted islets could then be analysed for insulin secretion dynamics, beta-cell development and response to glucose stimulation.

Microfluidic Platforms for Diabetes Research

In microfluidic platforms, where tiny volumes of fluid can be moved through channels, cell behaviour can be studied at a controlled temperature. It's possible to print complex microfluidic structures based on the microenvironment of diabetic tissues through 3D printing. The researchers might develop, for instance, a microfluidic pancreas-on-chip with the pancreatic cells and the vasculature integrated to track insulin release and glucose absorption in real time.

Liver and Adipose Tissue Models

The liver and fat tissue are major factors in diabetes, both in terms of insulin resistance and glucose transport. The liver and fat tissue models that could be 3D printed replicate the cell structure and extracellular matrix of those tissues. You can use these models to investigate how hyperglycemia changes liver function, lipid metabolism, and fat tissue inflammation.

Integrating Multi-tissue Models

What makes 3D printing really interesting is that you can print different tissue types into the same model. Such a method applies especially in diabetes, where organs need to interact. It is possible to design multi-tissue models consisting of pancreatic, liver and fat tissues to explore more fully the mechanisms of disease and treatment.

Benefits of 3D Printed Diabetes Embedded Modelling

Precision and Customization

With 3D printing, it's possible to have complete control over the geometry and material of the fabricated objects. This accuracy allows us to build customised models for different research purposes. The models can be scaled up and down, the shape changed, the cellular content altered to mimic various stages and forms of diabetes.

High-Throughput Screening

Multiple models print at once makes 3D printing optimal for high-throughput drug candidate screening. It's possible for scientists to construct sets of micro-models with a variety of conditions and use these to test whether treatments will work or hurt. That way, the drug discovery process can be significantly sped up and there is less need for animal experiments.

Better Mimicry of Human Physiology

3D printed replicas have more physiological validity than the 2D cultures. The 3D format is more faithful to tissue architecture, cell-cell interactions, and gradients of nutrients. The improved mimicry makes the models more predictive and yields more predictable outputs.

Challenges and Future Directions

3D printing can be a game changer for diabetes research, but there are issues to resolve. One of the most fundamental is creating bioinks with the right properties to allow for various cell types to grow and operate. And grafting vasculature onto printed models is an art-form that still needs to be studied.

The other challenge is standardization of 3D printed models so that they can be repeated and compared from study to study. The scientists have to have protocols for how to build, characterise and validate these models.

Conclusion

The 3D printer is changing diabetes research by allowing detailed and accurate disease models. Such models offer insights into diabetes' pathophysiology and promise to move new treatments along much faster. The technology will only continue to advance, but it will become an integral part of the battle to get a handle on diabetes. With the right strategy and access to the full capabilities of 3D printing, scientists can open the door to the next generation of precision medicine in the management of diabetes.

Reference

1. Amin R, et al.; Medical, pharmaceutical, and nutritional applications of 3D-printing technology in diabetes. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2024, 18(4):103002.