TEL AVIV, April 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Scientists in Israel unveiled a 3D
print of a heart with human tissue and vessels on Monday, calling it a first
and a “major medical breakthrough” that advances possibilities for
transplants.
While it remains a far way off, scientists hope one day to be able to
produce hearts suitable for transplant into humans as well as patches to
regenerate defective hearts.
The heart produced by researchers at Tel Aviv University is about the size
of a rabbit’s.
It marked “the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and
printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and
chambers,” said Tal Dvir, who led the project.
“People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but
not with cells or with blood vessels,” he said.
But the scientists said many challenges remain before fully working 3D
printed hearts will be available for transplant into patients.
Journalists were shown a 3D print of a heart about the size of a cherry at
Tel Aviv University on Monday as the researchers announced their findings,
published in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Science.
Researchers must now teach the printed hearts “to behave” like real ones.
The cells are currently able to contract, but do not yet have the ability to
pump.
Then they plan to transplant them into animal models, hopefully in about a
year, said Dvir.
“Maybe, in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals
around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely,” he said.
But he said hospitals would likely start with simpler organs than hearts.
– Producing ‘ink’ –
In its statement announcing the research, Tel Aviv University called it a
“major medical breakthrough.”
A biopsy of fatty tissue was taken from patients that was used in the
development of the “ink” for the 3D print.
First, patient-specific cardiac patches were created followed by the
entire heart, the statement said.
Using the patient’s own tissue is important to eliminate the risk of an
implant provoking an immune response and being rejected, Dvir said.
Challenges that remain include how to expand the cells to have enough
tissue to recreate a human-sized heart, he said.
Current 3D printers are also limited by the size of their resolution and
another challenge will be figuring out how to print all small blood vessels.
3D printing has opened up possibilities in numerous fields, provoking both
promise and controversy.
The technology has developed to include 3D prints of everything from homes
to guns.