Regenerative medicine has a bright future ahead of it. Thanks to a 3D printer researchers from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (United States) have succeeded in recreating living tissue that could be transplanted as a replacement in injured or sick patients.
The feat is recounted in the journal Nature Biotechnology. An ear, bone and muscle tissue were imprinted before they were implanted in animals. The ear was grafted under the skin of a mouse while the muscle and bone tissue was grafted into rats. The transplants went well. The grafted structures transformed into functional tissues which after two weeks developed a system of blood vessels and nerves.
Even more striking for researchers, the printed fabrics took on the strength, size and shape to be used on humans.
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“This new organ and tissue printer is an important step forward in our quest to develop replacement tissues for patients,” said Anthony Atala, lead author of the study, in a statement. The prospect of using this technique in the surgical field is seriously considered in the long term. “It is possible to make tissue of any shape that is viable for humans. With further development, this technology could potentially be used to print living tissue and organ structures for surgical implantation purposes,” continued the searcher.
Funded by the Institute of Regenerative Medicine of the American Armed Forces, the work of Dr. Atala’s team aims to implant in the future bio-printed muscles, cartilage and bones in patients, for example in theaters of war.
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