Now more than ever, we are able to do amazing things with the help of technology. This technology impacts our everyday life and now it can help in medicine as well. A team of engineers has created a 3D printer that can print human skin tissue. This team has won the 2014 James Dyson Award for their invention and was the product of the collaboration of Professor Alex Guenther, two University of Toronto students, former student Boyang Zhang, and Dr. Marc Jeschke, the head of Sunntbrook Hospital's Ross Tilley Burn Centre.
The PrintAlive BioPrinter uses the patients own cells, which are grown in a petri dish, to create a continuous layer of tissue that is fully compatible with that patient. In other words, this new printer eliminates the biological rejection of implants and cuts out the painful step of getting grafts from other parts of the patients body. Hopefully, this will carve a path towards being able to print whole organs and eliminate long waiting times for people on long transplant lists, while have higher survival rates for those in need of new organs. A company named Organovo has already announced that later this year, they will release the first 3D printed organ.
Although this is a major breakthrough, University
of Toronto is not the only one researching the printing of biologic material. Many researchers are working to perfect this technology, as it is still very new, and hopefully, through
the combined efforts of the world, we can soon be able to heal patients across the world more efficiently.
Here is a link to the article from the company that is endorsing this research:
Article from MaRS Innovation
