U.S. researchers use 3D bioprinting to create eye tissue

U.S. researchers have used patient stem cells and 3D bioprinting to produce eye tissue that will advance understanding of the mechanisms of blinding diseases, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Thursday.

The research team from the U.S. National Eye Institute printed a combination of cells that form the outer blood-retina barrier -- eye tissue that supports the retina's light-sensing photoreceptors.

The researchers combined three immature choroidal cell types in a hydrogel: pericytes and endothelial cells, which are key components of capillaries; and fibroblasts, which give tissues structure.

The researchers then printed the gel on a biodegradable scaffold. Within days, the cells began to mature into a dense capillary network, according to the NIH.

The technique provides a theoretically unlimited supply of patient-derived tissue to study degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, said the NIH.