“Printing” Living Tissue

In yet another leap in the field of 3D printing, the researchers at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have managed to prove that it is possible to print living tissue structures which can replace injured or diseased tissue in patients. Something that would truly have been considered science fiction is making its way into the real world of medical wonders.

The science experiment involved printing ear, bone and muscle structures using customized 3D printers. The regenerative living tissue thus printed was implanted in animals and managed to mature into functional tissue. It even developed a system of blood vessels and got integrated into the body.

What’s exciting for the regenerative medicine scientists is that the process seems to be compatible for human beings. The project has received funding from the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine. They are interested in the possibilities that this project could have on battlefield injuries.

As the team moves on to implant these  bio printed muscle, cartilage and bone in patients in the future it will be interesting to see their success rate. Needless to say the successful culmination in human testing for this science project will have huge implications for the field of regenerative medicine.