Traditional tissue engineering involves placing single layers of cells one after another onto a flat or shaped form, or seeding layers of cells onto a bioerodible scaffold.  While these methods have proven useful in the lab, they are suboptimal for creating useful tissue for clinical medicine. To create useful tissue for repair and transplantation, Organovo strives to reproduce the tissue microarchitecture that is essential to proper in vivo function, including the vasculature required for blood flow and oxygenation. 

To overcome these limitations, Organovo uses a breakthrough organ printing technology.  By marrying a knowledge of biophysics and cell biology with the precision of computer aided design and high precision deposition, we can recreate the microarchitecture of even the most complex human tissue. By precisely placing cells with an organ printer, and providing them with the proper natural developmental cues, the cells do exactly what they do in our bodies: they self assemble into fully formed, functional tissue.