I hope that all our readers, and non readers for that matter, had a wonderful Easter and Passover. Now it is back to work.
For the first time, scientists in Israel have created a working, vascularized engineered heart using human cells by printing it in 3D. The advancement, which could change medicine forever, was unveiled this week.
The entire “living” heart was successfully engineered replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers. The heart is made from human cells and patient-specific biological materials. In the process these materials serve as the bioinks, substances made of sugars and proteins that can be used for 3D printing of complex tissue models. People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels. These results demonstrate the potential of this approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future.
To create the 3-D printed heart, fatty tissue was taken from patients, which was separated into cellular and a-cellular materials. The cells were “reprogrammed to become pluripotent stem cells, the extracellular matrix (ECM), a three-dimensional network of extracellular macromolecules such as collagen and glycoproteins, were processed into a personalized hydrogel that served as the printing ‘ink.’
Once they were mixed with the hydrogel, they were separated to cardiac and endothelial cells to create patient-specific cardiac patches along with their own blood vessels. The biocompatibility of engineered materials is crucial to eliminating the risk of implant rejection, which jeopardizes the success of such treatments. The biomaterial should possess the same biochemical, mechanical and topographical properties of the patient’s own tissues. Then, we have 3D-printed thick, vascularized and perfusable cardiac tissues that completely match the immunological, cellular, biochemical and anatomical properties of the patient.
Although the heart was made with human cells “and patient-specific biological materials,” it’s still too small to be used for an organ transplant, as it is only the size of a rabbit’s heart. However, there is potential for it to be enlarged as larger human hearts require the same technology.
The study was inspired by the prevalence of heart disease in both Israel and the U.S. According to data compiled by the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women, accounting for the deaths of more than 600,000 people every year.
It is hoped they can teach the 3D heart to “behave” like real hearts, including tasks such as pumping blood and having the valves worth together. The cells need to form a pumping ability; they can currently contract, but they need to work together. It is hoped they will succeed and prove the method’s efficacy and usefulness.
It is hoped that within ten years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely.
A dwarf goes to a very busy doctor and asks “I know you are busy but do you treat dwarves?”The doctor replies “Yes, but you will have to be a little patient“