Printing+a+human+kidney

Printingahumankidney1.Whatisthefutureof3Dprinting?2.HowwouldyoulikeacloneorgansuchasEyes,Liver,Heart,Kidney,etc?ScriptThere'sactuallyamajorhealthcrisistodayintermsoftheshortageoforgans.Thefactisthatwe'relivinglonger.Medicinehasdoneamuchbetterjobofmakinguslivelonger,andtheproblemis,asweage,ourorganstendtofailmore,andsocurrentlytherearenotenoughorganstogoaround.Infact,inthelast10years,thenumberofpatientsrequiringanorganhasdoubled,whileinthesametime,theactualnumberoftransplantshasbarelygoneup.Sothisisnowapublichealthcrisis.Sothat'swherethisfieldcomesinthatwecallthefieldofregenerativemedicine.Itreallyinvolvesmanydifferentareas.Youcanuse,actually,scaffolds,biomaterials--they'relikethepieceofyourblouseoryourshirt--butspecificmaterialsyoucanactuallyimplantinpatientsandtheywilldowellandhelpyouregenerate.Orwecanusecellsalone,eitheryourveryowncellsordifferentstemcellpopulations.Orwecanuseboth.Wecanuse,actually,biomaterialsandthecellstogether.Andthat'swherethefieldistoday.Butit'sactuallynotanewfield.Interestingly,thisisabookthatwaspublishedbackin1938.It'stitledTheCultureofOrgans.Thefirstauthor,AlexisCarrel,aNobelPrizewinner.Heactuallydevisedsomeofthesametechnologiesusedtodayforsuturingbloodvessels,andsomeofthebloodvesselgraftsweusetodaywereactuallydesignedbyAlexis.ButIwantyoutonotehisco-author:CharlesLindbergh.That'sthesameCharlesLindberghwhoactuallyspenttherestofhislifeworkingwithAlexisattheRockefellerInstituteinNewYorkintheareaofthecultureoforgans.Soifthefield'sbeenaroundforsolong,whysofewclinicaladvances?Andthatreallyhastodotomanydifferentchallenges.ButifIweretopointtothreechallenges,thefirstoneisactuallythedesignofmaterialsthatcouldgoinyourbodyanddowellovertime.Andmanyadvancesnow,wecandothatfairlyreadily.Thesecondchallengewascells.Wecouldnotgetenoughofyourcellstogrowoutsideofyourbody.Overthelast20years,we'vebasicallytackledthat.Manyscientistscannowgrowmanydifferenttypesofcells.Pluswehavestemcells.Butevennow,2011,there'sstillcertaincellsthatwejustcan'tgrowfromthepatient.Livercells,nervecells,pancreaticcells--westillcan'tgrowthemeventoday.Andthethirdchallengeisvascularity,theactualsupplyofbloodtoallowthoseorgansortissuestosurviveonceweregeneratethem.Sowecanactuallyusebiomaterialsnow.Thisisactuallyabiomaterial.Wecanweavethem,knitthem,orwecanmakethemlikeyouseehere.Thisisactuallylikeacottoncandymachine.Yousawthespraygoingin.Thatwaslikethefibersofthecottoncandycreatingthisstructure,thistubularizedstructure,whichisabiomaterialthatwecanthenusetohelpyourbodyregenerateusingyourveryowncellstodoso.Andthat'sexactlywhatwedidhere.Thisisactuallyapatientwho[was]presentedwithadeceasedorgan,andwethencreatedoneofthesesmartbiomaterials,andthenwethenusedthatsmartbiomaterialtoreplaceandrepairthatpatient'sstructure.Whatwedidwasweactuallyusedthebiomaterialasabridgesothatthecellsintheorgancouldwalkonthatbridge,ifyouwill,andhelptobridgethegaptoregeneratethattissue.AndyouseethatpatientnowsixmonthsafterwithanX-rayshowingyoutheregeneratedtissue,whichisfullyregeneratedwhenyouanalyzeitunderthemicroscope.Wecanalsousecellsalone.Theseareactuallycellsthatweobtained.Thesearestemcellsthatwecreatefromspecificsources,andwecandrivethemtobecomeheartcells,andtheystartbeatinginculture.Sotheyknowwhattodo.Thecellsgeneticallyknowwhattodo,andtheystartbeatingtogether.Nowtoday,manyclinicaltrialsareusingdifferentkindsofstemcellsforheartdisease.Sothat'sactuallynowinpatients.Orifwe'regoingtouselargerstructurestoreplacelargerstructures,wecanthenusethepatient'sowncells,orsomecellpopulation,andthebiomaterials,thescaffolds,together.Sotheconcepthere:soifyoudohaveadeceasedorinjuredorgan,wetakeaverysmallpieceofthattissue,lessthanhalfthesizeofapostagestamp.Wethenteasethecellsapart,wegrowthecellsoutsidethebody.Wethentakeascaffold,abiomaterial--again,looksverymuchlikeapieceofyourblouseoryourshirt--wethenshapethatmaterial,andwethenusethosecellstocoatthatmaterialonelayeratatime--verymuchlikebakingalayercake,ifyouwill.Wethenplaceitinanoven-likedevice,andwe'reabletocreatethatstructureandbringitout.Thisisactuallyaheartvalvethatwe'veengineered,andyoucanseehere,wehavethestructureoftheheartvalveandwe'veseededthatwithcells,andthenweexerciseit.Soyouseetheleafletsopeningandclosing--ofthisheartvalvethat'scurrentlybeingusedexperimentallytotrytogetittofurtherstudies.Anothertechnologythatwehaveusedinpatientsactuallyinvolvesbladders.Weactuallytakeaverysmallpieceofthebladderfromthepatient--lessthanhalfthesizeofapostagestamp.Wethengrowthecellsoutsidethebody,takethescaffold,coatthescaffoldwiththecells--thepatient'sowncells,twodifferentcelltypes.Wethenputitinthisoven-likedevice.Ithasthesameconditionsasthehumanbody--37degreescentigrade,95percentoxygen.Afewweekslater,youhaveyourengineeredorganthatwe'reabletoimplantbackintothepatient.Forthesespecificpatients,weactuallyjustsuturethesematerials.Weusethree-dimensionalimagininganalysis,butweactuallycreatedthesebiomaterialsbyhand.Butwenowhavebetterwaystocreatethesestructureswiththecells.Weusenowsometypeoftechnologies,whereforsolidorgans,forexample,liket