11 Nov. 3D printing inside the body
Biotechnological 3D printing processes using light are already quite common today for producing cartilage, muscle, or lung tissue in the laboratory, for example. However, a second step involving implantation, which is prone to complications, is always necessary. A thin, endoscopic 3D printer that can be inserted into the body and prints tissue where it is needed would be more practical.
Dr. Andrea Toulouse conducts research in the field of microoptics and fiber-based 3D printing. On October 1, 2025, she launched her new junior research group, “3D Endoscopic Microfabrication” (3DEndoFab). Image: University of Stuttgart / Uli Regenscheit
Endoscopic tissue printing
The new research group ‚3D Endoscopic Microfabrication‘ (3DEndoFab) at the University of Stuttgart aims to close this gap. The central components are miniaturization, the use of light-based processes with high resolution, and the replacement of the previously used non-biodegradable photoresists with bio-inks. “In our group, we want to develop a 3D-printed micro-optic that is as small as a grain of salt and sits on the tip of a glass fiber,” explains Andrea Toulouse, head of the new junior research group. “There, the micro-optics will shape light in such a way that even complex tissue structures can be printed in 3D, with micrometer resolution and thus on the scale of body cells.” Toulouse’s first goal is to create the technology. The central research questions for the new group are now: Which methods of light-based 3D printing are best suited for endoscopic use in a biomedical context? And how can fiber-based 3D printing be implemented in a minimally invasive, efficient, and safe manner?
Close interdisciplinary collaboration with Prof. Michael Heymann from the Institute for Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems at the University of Stuttgart will also address fundamental biological questions. These include whether small climbing scaffolds can precisely dictate how the body’s own cells should grow and whether this could trigger a regeneration process that the body can complete independently.
Carl Zeiss Foundation funding
Toulouse is receiving €1.8 million in funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation as part of the CZS Nexus program to establish the independent junior research group. With two doctoral students from the fields of engineering and biotechnology, respectively, the group will also have an interdisciplinary focus.
The path to clinical application
It is important to Andrea Toulouse to make the connection to medicine. To promote the transfer to clinical application, she will integrate her group into the new Bionic Intelligence Tübingen Stuttgart (BITS) research network under the umbrella of Cyber Valley, whose co-spokesperson Prof. Syn Schmitt has already supported the funding application. The University of Stuttgart’s Biomedical Systems and Robotics for Health profile area will also be strengthened by the junior research group, and there could be a wide range of opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with other members of the profile area.
Source: www.uni-stuttgart.de
Image: University of Stuttgart / Uli Regenscheit