3D Printer Ears
Australian doctors are testing a bioprinter capable of creating living organs
The 3D Alek bioprinter, developed by scientists and engineers from the Australian University of Wollongong to design and create living organs, will help children with congenital deformity of the auricle to avoid complex surgery. The press release of Meet 3D Alek: the printer working to combat congenital ear deformity tells about how doctors are testing a new bioprinter and what they expect from the new device.
The new device, which is already undergoing clinical trials at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, is already capable of "printing" live human auricles from patients' stem cells. The first copies that the new bioprinter will work on will be ear shells for young patients of the Royal Hospital suffering from congenital ear defects. So far, the only way to treat this disease is a complex operation.
In the first clinical trials, a group of surgeons, led by Dr. Payal Mukherjee, collects stem cells for "biochernils" and grows from them a biomaterial for "printing" – ear cartilage. "Our next step will be an attempt to "print out" a new auricle created taking into account the features of the patient's face," explains Dr. Mukherjee. According to him, after the successful implementation of the technology, it will be possible to confidently promote the method to help adults with injuries or deformities of facial tissues. "We hope to make the technology viable and ready for mass use in the next two to three years," the surgeon added.
Professor Gordon Wallace from the University of Wollongong, noted that the main task of scientists now is to find the composition of "biochernil" for printing organs. "The requirements for the composition of the biomaterial for the printer are very high: it must keep the structure and shape, be able to develop and grow in a controlled manner, build vascular networks and maintain their mechanical integrity. In addition, we need to ensure that the selected composition of "biochernil" will turn into exactly the type of tissues and cells that we need," explains Wallace.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru