An Australian innovation in 3D printing could soon help in the fight against cancer.
Sydney based start-up Inventia has built a new 3D bio-printer that it says removes the need for time-consuming manual labour by medical lab workers.
Known as Rastrum, the pink printer emulates ink-jet technology to print human cells at a rapid rate – quickly cultivating realistic tumours for testing cancer drugs.
It can also conduct multiple experiments at the same time.
“One of the comments we had from a researcher was he was able to produce more cell models with Rastrum in a few weeks than he previously produced in an entire PhD,” Cameron Ferris, Inventia’s chief operating officer, said.
“We hope that this will turbocharge cancer research.”
Kaylene Simpson, head of the Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics (VCFG), said the machine will have a profound impact on the centre’s studies.
“It’s a game changer for us in a discovery-based science … we can screen through thousands of drugs,” she said.
Image Credit: Cameron Gooley
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