I guess you could say that this heart… beats in a 3-dimensional manner.
The Israeli researchers from Tel Aviv University successfully 3D printed a heart. This gives us hope that in the future we can use these to patch hearts suffering from disease. It is also possible that we can use them for transplants.
This heart took about 3 hours to print. Unfortunately, this heart is too small for humans. Approximately 2.5 cm, it is similar to the size of a rabbit’s. The heart was made from a patient’s biological materials.
From Bloomberg:
“It’s completely biocompatible and matches the patient,” reducing the chances of rejection inside the body, said Tal Dvir, the professor who directed the project.
Researchers took fatty tissue from a patient, then separated it into cellular and non-cellular components. The cells were then “reprogrammed” to become stem cells, which turned into heart cells. The non-cellular materials were turned into a gel that served as the bio-ink for printing, Dvir explained.
Previously, only simple tissues -- without the blood vessels they need to live and function -- had been printed, according to a press release from the university. The breakthrough was reported Monday in a paper in Advanced Science.
(Image: Advanced Science/2019)