US scientists have successfully implanted in animals living tissue structures made of a “sophisticated and improved” 3D printer, reveals a study published in the journal Nature .
This research, developed by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, represents a breakthrough for regenerative medicine, it suggests that these structures could be implanted in patients in the future, overcoming “a number of technical obstacles” that hinder today, they highlight its responsible work in a statement.
experts printed cartilage, bone and muscle structures “stable” and after implanting in rodents, tissue matured into functional , while developed a system of blood vessels.
Although the new printed structures are not yet ready to be implanted in patients, remember, the first results of the study suggest that have ” size, strength and stop functionality suitable to be used in humans, “.
” This new printer tissues and organs is an important step in our goal to manufacture replacement tissue for patients progress, “explains Anthony . Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest (WFIRM, its acronym in English)
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According to the expert, “bioprinter 3D” can be made “stable tissue on a human scale of any shape and size,” allowing “print living tissue and organ structures for surgical implantation.”
For this work, the WFIRM has been funded by the Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the US military, which aims to apply this technology in soldiers wounded in combat, given the shortage of donor tissue for implants.
with the precision of this new 3D printer, in the near future could faithfully replicate tissues and most complex of the human body organs.
for now, remind researchers, current printers , whether injection laser or extrusion, can not play structures with the size or the necessary strength to be implanted in the body.
the so-called Integrated Printing Tissue and Organ (ITOP) System developed by the WFIRM during the last ten years, has overcome these limitations, held Atala.
the ITOP so much as biodegradable plastics to create the “form” of tissue and based gels water holding the cells.
in addition, the 3D machine manufactures a strong temporal external structure, which prevents cell damage occurring during the printing process.
Another of the challenges of tissue engineering is to make the implanted structures live long enough to be integrated into the body.
in this regard, experts optimized the one hand the “ink” of water based holding cells to improve their “health” and promote their growth, while printed a network of “micro” structures.
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These channels point, allow nutrients and oxygen present in the human body are integrated in those structures, remain alive and develop a system of blood vessels.
previous research showed that the cells survive only when implanted tissue structures have not been able to develop blood vessels have a smaller 200 microns (0.1778 mm).
Atala and his colleagues managed to produce an ear of a size suitable for babies of 1.5 inches (38.1 millimeters) can survive and show signs of vascularization one two months after being implanted.
“Our results indicate that using a” biotinta ‘combined, with the development of’ micro ‘, creates the right environment to keep cells alive and to encourage their growth and tissues, “says researcher .
Another feature of the ITOP is its ability to process data from scans and MRIs and “make tissue to measure” for each patient.
Source: La Vanguardia
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