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Doctors Transplant 3-D Printed Ear Made of Human Cells

cigaretteman

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May 29, 2001
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A 20-year-old woman who was born with a small and misshapen right ear has received a 3-D printed ear implant made from her own cells, the manufacturer announced on Thursday. Independent experts said that the transplant, part of the first clinical trial of a successful medical application of this technology, was a stunning advance in the field of tissue engineering.
The new ear was printed in a shape that precisely matched the woman’s left ear, according to 3DBio Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company based in Queens. The new ear, transplanted in March, will continue to regenerate cartilage tissue, giving it the look and feel of a natural ear, the company said.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” said Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Feinberg, who is not affiliated with 3DBio, is a co-founder of FluidForm, a regenerative medicine company that also uses 3-D printing. “It shows this technology is not an ‘if’ anymore, but a ‘when,’” he said.
The results of the woman’s reconstructive surgery were announced by 3DBio in a news release. Citing proprietary concerns, the company has not publicly disclosed the technical details of the process, making it more difficult for outside experts to evaluate. The company said that federal regulators had reviewed the trial design and set strict manufacturing standards, and that the data would be published in a medical journal when the study was complete.
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The clinical trial, which includes 11 patients, is still ongoing, and it’s possible that the transplants could fail or bring unanticipated health complications. But since the cells originated from the patient’s own tissue, the new ear is not likely to be rejected by the body, doctors and company officials said.
3DBio’s success, seven years in the making, is one of several recent breakthroughs in the quest to improve organ and tissue transplants. In January, surgeons in Maryland transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into a 57-year-old man with heart disease, extending his life by two months. Scientists are also developing techniques to extend the life of donor organs so they do not go to waste; Swiss doctors reported this week that a patient who received a human liver that had been preserved for three days was still healthy a year later.
United Therapeutics Corp., the company that provided the genetically engineered pig for the heart procedure, is also experimenting with 3-D printing to produce lungs for transplants, a spokesman said. And scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology reported in September that they had 3-D printed a network of blood vessels, which would be necessary to supply blood to implanted tissues.

Companies have previously used 3-D printing technology to produce custom-fit prosthetic limbs made of plastic and lightweight metals. But the ear implant, made from a tiny glob of cells harvested from the woman’s misshapen ear, appears to be the first known example of a 3-D printed implant made of living tissues.​

 
Perfusion will always be an issue. Making tissue is easy. Making appropriate vasculature is much more difficult.
 
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Perfusion will always be an issue. Making tissue is easy. Making appropriate vasculature is much more difficult.

So Gohox69, I see you always pipe in on medical related issues. Do you have any connections to the Iowa medical school or whatever Iowa calls its overall research program? I’m currently working with a North Carolina company that creates molecular reactors to make synthetic api. They’re looking for a $65-80 million facility tied to a research university to do fill and finish drugs using the api produced from their reactors. I can’t say more without an NDA but the potential is there for the university to make big waves in the scientific community, the newly created fill and finish pharma company to make big $$$ and for anyone who helps me set up the deal to get shares in both the api reactor and fill and finish pharma companies.

I‘m currently working Miami, UCF, USF, UNC, Arkansas and Indiana medical schools and will likely land one of those but I’m always looking for better options. I’d like to get FSU involved but the odd thing is I have stronger connections elsewhere.
 
So Gohox69, I see you always pipe in on medical related issues. Do you have any connections to the Iowa medical school or whatever Iowa calls its overall research program? I’m currently working with a North Carolina company that creates molecular reactors to make synthetic api. They’re looking for a $65-80 million facility tied to a research university to do fill and finish drugs using the api produced from their reactors. I can’t say more without an NDA but the potential is there for the university to make big waves in the scientific community, the newly created fill and finish pharma company to make big $$$ and for anyone who helps me set up the deal to get shares in both the api reactor and fill and finish pharma companies.

I‘m currently working Miami, UCF, USF, UNC, Arkansas and Indiana medical schools and will likely land one of those but I’m always looking for better options. I’d like to get FSU involved but the odd thing is I have stronger connections elsewhere.
Yes, I do collaborate with some folks in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. As far as dealing with UI goes, good luck. It's a tough nut (institution) to crack and lags far behind in innovative research that involves stem cells, regenerative medicine and cancer. Those are my specialties along with protein bioproduction, in the context of monoclonal antibodies, protein/peptides and viral therapies.

The two places you might want to reach here are the Institute of Biomedical Discovery and the Center For Biocatalysis. If you google them and add the University of Iowa, I am sure some contact information will pop up. The folks I knew at both places have since passed on (sadly).
 
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Yes, I do collaborate with some folks in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. As far as dealing with UI goes, good luck. It's a tough nut (institution) to crack and lags far behind in innovative research that involves stem cells, regenerative medicine and cancer. Those are my specialties along with protein bioproduction, in the context of monoclonal antibodies, protein/peptides and viral therapies.

The two places you might want to reach here are the Institute of Biomedical Discovery and the Center For Biocatalysis. If you google them and add the University of Iowa, I am sure some contact information will pop up. The folks I knew at both places have since passed on (sadly).

Thanks, the fact that they have two centers/institutes with actually appropriate sounding names is very encouraging. I’ll give them a buzz and see if they’re interested. You’ll know if they do move forward because the ability to make synthetic api out of any organic molecule is the only way to beat China and India in the near future and the Company I’m talking about owns most of the valuable patents in that area. So it’s got general research, medical scientific innovation, national security and economic prosperity all tied into its future.
 
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Thanks, the fact that they have two centers/institutes with actually appropriate sounding names is very encouraging. I’ll give them a buzz and see if they’re interested. You’ll know if they do move forward because the ability to make synthetic api out of any organic molecule is the only way to beat China and India in the near future and the Company I’m talking about owns most of the valuable patents in that area. So it’s got general research, medical scientific innovation, national security and economic prosperity all tied into its future.
I wish you the best my friend. Scientific progress is fun and sorely needed.
 
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A 20-year-old woman who was born with a small and misshapen right ear has received a 3-D printed ear implant made from her own cells, the manufacturer announced on Thursday. Independent experts said that the transplant, part of the first clinical trial of a successful medical application of this technology, was a stunning advance in the field of tissue engineering.
The new ear was printed in a shape that precisely matched the woman’s left ear, according to 3DBio Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company based in Queens. The new ear, transplanted in March, will continue to regenerate cartilage tissue, giving it the look and feel of a natural ear, the company said.
“It’s definitely a big deal,” said Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Feinberg, who is not affiliated with 3DBio, is a co-founder of FluidForm, a regenerative medicine company that also uses 3-D printing. “It shows this technology is not an ‘if’ anymore, but a ‘when,’” he said.
The results of the woman’s reconstructive surgery were announced by 3DBio in a news release. Citing proprietary concerns, the company has not publicly disclosed the technical details of the process, making it more difficult for outside experts to evaluate. The company said that federal regulators had reviewed the trial design and set strict manufacturing standards, and that the data would be published in a medical journal when the study was complete.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story


The clinical trial, which includes 11 patients, is still ongoing, and it’s possible that the transplants could fail or bring unanticipated health complications. But since the cells originated from the patient’s own tissue, the new ear is not likely to be rejected by the body, doctors and company officials said.
3DBio’s success, seven years in the making, is one of several recent breakthroughs in the quest to improve organ and tissue transplants. In January, surgeons in Maryland transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into a 57-year-old man with heart disease, extending his life by two months. Scientists are also developing techniques to extend the life of donor organs so they do not go to waste; Swiss doctors reported this week that a patient who received a human liver that had been preserved for three days was still healthy a year later.
United Therapeutics Corp., the company that provided the genetically engineered pig for the heart procedure, is also experimenting with 3-D printing to produce lungs for transplants, a spokesman said. And scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology reported in September that they had 3-D printed a network of blood vessels, which would be necessary to supply blood to implanted tissues.

Companies have previously used 3-D printing technology to produce custom-fit prosthetic limbs made of plastic and lightweight metals. But the ear implant, made from a tiny glob of cells harvested from the woman’s misshapen ear, appears to be the first known example of a 3-D printed implant made of living tissues.​

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