Scientists Prove Feasibility of “Printing” Replacement Tissue

Wake Forest: Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients. Reporting in Nature Biotechnology, the scientists said they printed ear, bone and muscle structures. When implanted in animals, the structures matured into functional tissue and developed a system of blood vessels. Most importantly, these early results indicate that the structures have the right size, strength and function for use in humans.

reconstructive surgery uses a 3D printed jaw implant

Melbourne: In an Australian-first surgical procedure, engineers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne along with Epworth Freemasons’ Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon George Dimitroulis, have corrected a young man’s rare congenital jaw deformity, using a 3D printed jaw joint that was designed and created in Melbourne.

Application of 3D printing in orthopedics

Annals of Translational Medicine: The 3D printing technology is penetrating the healthcare field at an astonishing rate. Although there is still a long way to go to realize organ printing and despite the constantly existing ethical and technical changes (1), the 3D printing can form 3D supporting structures in a controllable manner and has shown charms in fields such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine along with the advances in cell printing and bio-printing and the innovation of printing materials (2-4). In the clinical settings, 3D printing, as a novel additive manufacturing technique, is mainly applied in orthopedics and stomatology (5). A group of 3D printing-based patient-specific osteotomy instruments, orthopedic implants, and dental implants have been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Caritas Europa (CE) for clinical use.

Biogel structures produced by 3-D printing could be used in tissue engineering.

MIT: Researchers have developed a new way of making tough — but soft and wet — biocompatible materials, called “hydrogels,” into complex and intricately patterned shapes. The process might lead to injectable materials for delivering drugs or cells into the body; scaffolds for regenerating load-bearing tissues; or tough but flexible actuators for future robots, the researchers say. The new process is described in a paper in the journal Advanced Materials, co-authored by MIT associate professor of mechanical engineering Xuanhe Zhao and colleagues at MIT, Duke University, and Columbia University.

First successful 3D-printed biologic tracheal graft in an animal model

Mount Sinai: A team of researchers from Icahn School of Medicine have combined 3D printing technology with human stem cells to create the first successful 3D-printed biologic tracheal graft in an animal model. Using a biocompatible polymer, researchers created a customized 3D-printed tracheal graft seeded with stem cells. The graft was then used to repair a defect in an animal. The Mount Sinai team continues to work toward creating a customized tracheal graft that could be used to repair complex airway defects in humans.

3D printing improves cartilage healing

Utrecht: An international team of researchers under the leadership of UMC Utrecht has developed a material that could help cartilage tissue in joints to heal using 3D printing techniques. “This may facilitate the treatment of larger joint defects than can be treated with current techniques”, says Jos Malda, university lecturer at Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht. “Moreover, thanks to 3D printing technology, it would be possible to reconstruct the joint’s original shape.” The results have been published in Nature Communications.

The researchers used materials called hydrogels, which are networks of polymers that can absorb large quantities of fluid. Some examples of hydrogels include winegums, pudding and soft contact lenses. In regenerative medicine, hydrogels can serve as carriers for cells to restore joint cartilage. Using 3D printing techniques, the scientists were able to ‘print’ a network of thin fibres, with which they then reinforced the gel. The new composite material displayed properties similar to joint cartilage.

How babies’ lives were saved by 3D printing

Michigan: Researchers report promising results from first-ever cases of severe tracheobronchomalacia treated by custom-designed airway splints at U-M. Kaiba was just a newborn when he turned blue because his little lungs weren’t getting the oxygen they needed. Garrett spent the first year of his life in hospital beds tethered to a ventilator, being fed through his veins because his body was too sick to absorb food. Baby Ian’s heart stopped before he was even six months old. Three babies all had the same life-threatening condition: a terminal form of tracheobronchomalacia, which causes the windpipe to periodically collapse and prevents normal breathing. There was no cure and life-expectancies were grim. The three boys became the first in the world to benefit from groundbreaking 3D printed devices that helped keep their airways open, restored their breathing and saved their lives at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Researchers have closely followed their cases to see how well the bioresorbable splints implanted in all three patients have worked, publishing the promising results in today’s issue of Science Translational Medicine.

3-D Printing to make medicine easier

Scimex: The machinery used by scientists and medical doctors is sophisticated and expensive, making it difficult for developing countries to establish functioning education and science system. Now international researchers have presented a DIY way to create these items, which includes using 3-D printing, making it much easier to create these tools in areas when they would otherwise be unavailable. 

3D-printed guides can help restore function in damaged nerves

Sheffield University. UK: Scientists at the University of Sheffield have succeeded in using a 3D printed guide to help nerves damaged in traumatic incidents repair themselves. The team used the device to repair nerve damage in animal models and say the method could help treat many types of traumatic injury.