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3D Printing and Polymer Chemistry Revolutionize Diabetes Treatment

Region Stockholm

Published Feb 03, 2025

Researchers at Karolinska University Hospital and KTH Royal Institute of Technology are collaborating to transform the future of diabetes treatment. By combining expertise in 3D printing and polymer chemistry, they are developing an innovative technique for localized drug delivery.

Two women in a lab
Lisa Juntti-Berggren, professor and senior consultant in endocrinology at Karolinska University Hospital and Anna Herland, professor in Nanobiotechnology at the Department of Protein Science at KTH.

The project is funded by a joint initiative from KTH and Region Stockholm aimed at promoting innovations at the intersection of health, medicine, and technology.

Diabetes is one of the major widespread diseases that continues to increase. With this new technology, researchers hope to improve the transplantation of insulin-producing cells, potentially reducing the need for lifelong medication.

Two women in a lab

– Transplanting healthy pancreatic islets has the potential to cure diabetes, but immune responses make the treatment complicated, says Lisa Juntti-Berggren, professor and senior consultant in endocrinology at Karolinska University Hospital.

New method for transplantation

At the Rolf Luft Research Center, Lisa Juntti-Berggren and Anna Herland, professor in Nanobiotechnology at the Department of Protein Science at KTH, are developing a new technique to transplant pancreatic islets into the anterior chamber of the eye instead of the liver, which has been the standard method until now.

Portrait woman
Anna Herland

The new technique involves placing the cells in the eye’s anterior chamber, which improves their survival and allows for easier monitoring. Moreover, fewer cells are required, and only temporary medication is needed to prevent rejection.

– By placing the islets in the anterior chamber of the eye instead, very few islets are needed, they have excellent survival rates, they can be monitored under a microscope, and we are developing a simpler, temporary immunosuppressive treatment, explains Lisa Juntti-Berggren.

– We are developing new methods for localized drug delivery using 3D printing. The printer creates implantable structures that can release medication locally, says Anna Herland.

Portrait woman
Lisa Juntti-Berggren

Collaboration is a prerequisite

– Technological development is a prerequisite for most new medical methods. Collaboration between clinical and technical fields accelerates the development of new and more effective treatments, emphasizes Lisa Juntti-Berggren.

– Without a specific clinical problem and expertise, medical technology development is not possible, adds Anna Herland.

– Our project directly addresses this issue, but we also aim to create techniques for other localized drug treatments.

– We hope to develop new methods to create more effective, customized structures for localized drug delivery, says Lisa Juntti-Berggren.

– The project funding enables further development of expertise in 3D printing and polymer chemistry for important medical applications, says Anna Herland.

Text: Sofia Tatsis
Photo: Magnus Glans

About

In type 1 diabetes, the insulin-producing beta cells in the Langerhans islets of the pancreas are destroyed. Insulin is a vital hormone, and people with type 1 diabetes must receive insulin treatment. Achieving stable blood sugar control can often be challenging, and in such cases, transplanting healthy Langerhans islets can be an option. The project is directly focused on transplantation while also enabling new techniques for other localized drug treatments.

Annual call within health, medicine, and technology (HMT)

The project is funded by KTH and Region Stockholm as part of an initiative to advance research at the intersection of health, medicine, and technology (HMT). The goal is to contribute to long-term improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare, ultimately benefiting people’s health in both the short and long term.