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It is hoped that the little heart will pave the way for donorless transplantation, while each hospital could have access to 3D printers of organs. It is a technological triumph: a 3D heart that includes, for the first time, cells, blood vessels, ventricles and cavities.
Produced by researchers from Tel Aviv University, the tiny heart is about the size of a rabbit, but constitutes a scientific breakthrough.
Professor Tal Dvir from the School of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University said it was a moment of pride.
"This is the first time that the entire cell heart with blood vessels is printed. And another major advance is that it is printed from the patient's own materials, "said Dvir.
According to Professor Dvir, the unique process is based on a small biopsy taken from a patient.
"The cells are reprogrammed to become stem cells, and then differentiated to become heart cells and cells that form blood vessels," he explains.
"And the biomaterial, collagen and other sugars found in the tissues are transformed into a bio-ink. Together, when mixed, we have bio-inks for the heart and bio-inks for the blood vessels. printer to print whole hearts with the main blood vessels, "he added.
The technology, which is in its infancy, will be developed in the years to come in the hope of creating organs for an effective human transplant.
Nadav Noor, a doctoral student in advanced science, says that it's a crucial moment.
"There are still many challenges ahead, it will take at least a few years before we can reach a whole heart with a functional and pumping heart," he says. "I'm not sure that this will serve us in the next few years, but for our children, I think it may be an incredible opportunity. Especially for patients with heart disease. "
Currently, it takes three hours to print a heart, which measures about 2.5 centimeters. In the coming years, hearts will be transplanted into small animals such as rats or rabbits for testing purposes.
Professor Chaim Lotan, Director of the Herat Institute at the Hadbadah Medical Center in Jerusalem, said the 3D printed heart was an important step forward.
"We are still in a very early phase," he says. "It will take some time to go from a small heart to a big heart, it will be the challenge to see that we have enough blood in our heart, it will be a challenge to see that the heart beats, everything is going well. cells and muscles are synchronized. So we still have a long way to go, but we are very optimistic. "
The researchers hope that in 10 years, every hospital will have printers for the production of tissues and organs that can be transplanted to patients.
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