Amazing technology!
From The Telegraph:
“A young woman has received a 3D printed ear implant made from her own cells, in a scientific development that could “revolutionise” medicine.
The 20-year-old, who was born with a deformity that left her right ear small and misshapen, had the reconstructive surgery in March in the US – part of the first clinical trial to use 3D printing to construct an implant made of living tissue.
“This is so exciting, sometimes I have to temper myself a little bit,” Dr Arturo Bonilla, who performed the surgery in Texas, told the New York Times. “If everything goes as planned, this will revolutionise the way this is done.”
The implant was produced by 3DBio Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company based in New York, which announced the successful procedure on Thursday. The results are set to be published in a medical journal when an ongoing trial, which includes 11 volunteers, is complete.
The new ear was made from a tiny clump of cells taken from the woman’s right ear, which experts say will reduce the chance that the implant will be rejected from the body. It will continue to regenerate cartilage, meaning it will eventually feel and look like a natural ear.
It is thought to be the first time that a 3D printed implant made of living tissues has been transplanted.
The company said that, with more research, the same technology could be used for replacement spinal discs, noses and knee menisci – as well as reconstructive tissue for lumpectomies.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” said Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved in the trial. “It shows this technology is not an ‘if’ anymore, but a ‘when’.”
Read the whole story here.
DCG