Skip to main content
Annual report 2013

Bone Therapeutics uses 3D printing to work on cell therapy for bone defects

Bone Therapeutics, based in Gosselies, develops innovative – and above all minimally invasive – cell therapies for repairing and preventing bone fractures. To treat certain bone defects, the biotech company decided to seek out a solution focusing on tissue generation. Together with Image Analysis, a UK company specialising in medical imaging, Sirris is making that quest possible with 3D printing.

In 2014 Bone Therapeutics launched Ceracell, a two-year project within the European M-ERA.NET research programme. The key question of this research project is the following: How feasible is a new product for repairing bone injuries in a patient by injecting healthy bone cells and 3D matrices? To initially test this in vitro , Sirris provided 3D-printed, biocompatible matrices that reconstruct specific bone defects. 

Customised biocompatible 3D parts
“Using CT scan images and analyses from Image Analysis, we are developing complex bone matrices made of bioceramics”, explains Grégory Nolens, Senior Engineer Additive Manufacturing at Sirris. “Mineral matrices are the biological structures that give bone its strength. With 3D printing we faithfully reproduce this matrix, specifically designed for individual bone defects.”

“Using this technique, Bone Therapeutics can rigorously test the properties of bone-forming cells in vitro and combine them with 3D-printed matrices”, says Grégory. “The extent to which the cells bond to the bone tissue can also be studied, as can the possible impact of the type of cell therapy on the physical, mechanical and porosity-related properties of the bone.” This will be followed by in vivo tests to thoroughly assess the efficiency and biocompatibility of the new Bone Therapeutics product.