Posted on 08/25/2018 3:57:03 PM PDT by Twotone
A team of Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers have developed a way to bioprint tubular structures that better mimic native vessels and ducts in the body. The 3-D bioprinting technique allows fine-tuning of the printed tissues' properties, such as number of layers and ability to transport nutrients. These more complex tissues offer potentially viable replacements for damaged tissue. The team describes its new approach and results in a paper published on Aug. 23 in Advanced Materials.
"The vessels in the body are not uniform," said Yu Shrike Zhang, PhD, senior author on the study and an associate bioengineer in BWH's Department of Medicine. "This bioprinting method generates complex tubular structures that mimic those in the human system with higher fidelity than previous techniques."
Many disorders damage tubular tissues: arteritis, atherosclerosis and thrombosis damage blood vessels, while urothelial tissue can suffer inflammatory lesions and deleterious congenital anomalies.
To make the 3D bioprinter's "ink," the researchers mixed the human cells with a hydrogel, a flexible structure composed of hydrophilic polymers. They optimized the chemistry of the hydrogel to allow the human cells to proliferate, or "seed," throughout the mixture.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Wow. That could make CABG ( coronary artery bypass graft) a breeze!
A brave new world?
One step closer to bio-engineered replacements for vessels and ducks
In the ‘80’s, my mother had a mitral valve replacement. They used a pig valve. It only lasted about ten years. She required large amounts of anti-rejection drugs. All that may no longer be necessary with this new technology.
Yeah, basically anyone who who can get through the next 10-15 years will look at a very different world of medical practices especially beyond 2030.
I had a mechanical valve replacement in 2013 as part of a ruptured ascending aorta aneurysm surgery. That just has been replaced with a bovine valve due to endocarditis. The surgeon’s skill, medical technology, and the grace of God has kept me alive. My fear though is that as sure as you are born, you are destined to die. Does man really have the wisdom to go forward by further trying to alter that pattern?
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