The Printed Future Of Transplantology, Or How Science Fiction Became Reality

• Published date: 19 March 2024
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Patent, Food and Drugs Law
• Law Firm: JWP Patent & Trademark Attorneys
• Author: Urszula Gągała and Katarzyna Jarmoszewicz

The technology of 3D printing is one of the most revolutionary technologies to have emerged in recent decades. 3D printed components, while still stirring up a lot of excitement, have already made their way into everyday products. Bioprinting has the potential to find wide application in medicine and is considered to be the most exciting development in this field.

Printing has found applications in various fields such as sports equipment, medical accessories, implants, prostheses, furniture, car and aircraft parts, even construction. An example of the large-scale capabilities of this technology is a 12-metre pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam. The bridge was printed entirely in 3D using stainless steel. The bridge was installed over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal in July 2021 and still remains in place, attracting many tourists.

Bioprinting in Medicine

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an innovative manufacturing strategy that enables precise placement of biological substances, including living cells and extracellular matrix components, in a defined 3D hierarchical organization to create artificial multicellular systems, tissues, or organs. 3D bioprinting allows for the creation of biological structures that closely resemble their natural counterparts.

Developing living and functional tissues or whole organs by artificial means offers numerous advantages in the field of tissue and organ transplantation. This is particularly important due to the continuing shortage of donors or lack of tissue compatibility.

Sounds like a futuristic vision by Lem, but it is already happening!

The first 3D printed organ to be transplanted into a human in 1999 was a urinary bladder. This was done by scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The success of this endeavour is demonstrated by the fact that the artificial bladder has remained in service and fully functional for several decades.

In 2022, the first functional external ear transplant was performed in San Antonio, Texas. The fortunate recipient of the new body part was a 20-year-old woman born without an ear. The new organ has been made in the size and shape of the female left ear.

United Therapeutics Corporation has 3D printed a scaffold for human lungs. With 4,000 kilometres of capillaries and 200 million alveoli, they can exchange oxygen in animal models. This is a quantum leap towards developing functional, transplantable human lungs. The goal of the United Therapeutics Corporation...