A US-based company, which is implanting bio-printed living tissues, has transplanted a 3D-printed ear in a 20-year-old woman.
Reports in international media suggest that the transplant was carried out on a woman from Mexico who was born with a congenital defect that left her with a misshapen ear.
3DBio Therapeutics, the company behind the breakthrough transplant, took a sample of cartilage cells from Alexa’s ear and grew them in a high-tech laboratory.
3DBio Therapeutics and the Microtia-Congenital Ear Deformity Institute Conduct Human Ear Reconstruction Using 3D-Bioprinted Living Tissue Implant in a First-in-Human Clinical Trial https://t.co/ZY9bryKEac #microtia #3DBioPrinting #aurinovo #microtiaawareness #raredisease pic.twitter.com/NT2tvgWfTv
— 3DBio Therapeutics (@3dbiocorp) June 2, 2022
The woman cells were later merged with the company’s collagen-based bio-ink, and then the collagen was inserted into a special 3D bioprinter, which formed the material layer by layer and draw a shape akin to the patient’s left ear.
A surgeon then implanted the 3D-printed ear under the patient’s skin. The first of its kind of transplant is said to be a huge advance in the field of tissue engineering as millions of child gets birth with defects due to genetics, infection, or some kind of exposure.
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The medical advance could open doors for novel experiments around 3D tissue printing, potentially getting new studies in regenerative medicine.
3DBio Therapeutics also expressed hope to transplant other body parts like noses and spinal discs, revealing that a clinical trial is underway in other patients.
