Scientists have finally gotten a break-through in developing a 3D Heart. This 3D heart has been printed using the patient’s own cells and biomaterials. The heart is really tiny and fascinating to look at. In this article, we will tell you all there is to know about this 3D printed beauty.
“Generation of thick vascularized tissues that fully match the patient still remains an unmet challenge in cardiac tissue engineering. Here, a simple approach to 3D-print thick, vascularized, and perfusable cardiac patches that completely match the immunological, cellular, biochemical, and anatomical properties of the patient is reported. To this end, a biopsy of an omental tissue is taken from patients. While the cells are reprogrammed to become pluripotent stem cells and differentiated to cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells, the extracellular matrix is processed into a personalized hydrogel. Following, the two cell types are separately combined with hydrogels to form bio-inks for the parenchymal cardiac tissue and blood vessels,” the investigators wrote.
This is a really big achievement because this is the first time a fully functional heart has been printed which features cells, blood vessels, ventricles, and chambers.
“This heart is made from human cells and patient-specific biological materials. In our process, these materials serve as the bio-inks, 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. Our results demonstrate the potential of our approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future.” said Tal Dvir, Ph.D., a professor at TAU’s School of Molecular Cell Biology.
If you have read till here let’s cut the scientific part. You might wanna know how this 3D heart being printed was made possible. Let’s discuss just that. So, a biopsy of fatty tissue was taken from patients. The cellular and a-cellular materials were then separated.
While 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.
After being mixed with the hydrogel, the cells were differentiated to cardiac or endothelial cells to create patient-specific, immune-compatible cardiac patches with blood vessels and, subsequently, an entire heart.
In a world where so many people are dying of heart attacks and suffer from many heart-related diseases, is this one of the biggest achievements in today’s time. Comment down below.
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