Kenzan Method for Scaffold-Free Biofabrication

Koichi Nakayama, MD, PhD, is Professor and Chairman at the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Japan. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. Dr. Nakayama is currently the president of the Cell Aggregation Meeting and also serves as a committee member for the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine. He received his MD from Kyushu University, Faculty of Medicine and his PhD from the Graduate School of the same institution. After specializing and working in orthopedic surgery at Fukuoka Red Cross hospital, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Medical Center, and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Kyushu University Hospital, Nakayama went on to lead a project on bio-rapid prototyping funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) at Kyushu University. This work led to the invention of a pioneering scaffold-free method for bio 3D printing, based on cell spheroids being deposited onto needle arrays at specific coordinates. In 2010 Nakayama co-founded Cyfuse Biomedical, where he currently is the scientific advisor. Together with Shibuya Kogyo, Cyfuse work on developing the bio 3D printer Regenova, as well as new biological products and solutions for drug testing and regenerative medicine. The company, together with Nakayama's laboratory at Saga University and several Japanese and international partners are leading the way in scaffold-free bio 3D printed blood vessels, cartilage, liver, cardiac and neural tissues.