4 June 2022 - Regenerative medicine implant technology company 3DBio Therapeutics has announced that they have successfully transplanted a 3D printedear made from human cells into a woman who was born with a rare ear deformity. The transplant was part of the first clinical trial of the technology, and its success marks a major step forward in tissue engineering." If all goes according to plan, this could revolutionise organ transplantation," Arturo Bonilla, the ear reconstruction surgeon who led the team that performed the procedure, told the New York Times.
About 1,500 babies born each year in the United States suffer from microtia, a condition in which one or both ears are underdeveloped or missing altogether. 3DBio Therapeutics is conducting a clinical trial with 11 participants testing their AuriNovo ears, a personalised tissue implant to replace the missing ear in these patients. Typically, the ears of patients with microtia are made from rib grafts or synthetic materials. Instead, this experimental procedure involves taking living tissue from the patient's existing ear and removing cartilage cells. These cells were then grown and 3D printed into the shape of the patient's ear. The company told the New York Times that the ear will continue to regenerate cartilage throughout the patient's life, and because it is made from their own cells, it is unlikely to experience a rejection reaction.
2022 is an important year for advances in organ transplant technology. In January this year, doctors performed a pig heart transplant on a patient, although the patient died a few months later. There are also research groups working on 3D-printed lungs and 3D-printed blood vessels, and executives at 3DBio Therapeutics say that in the future they are developing technology that could potentially print other body parts, such as noses and rotator cuffs, and eventually complex organs such as livers and kidneys.
"The ear comes significantly simpler than internal organs and, unlike the liver, is not necessary to sustain human life, so it will be a long road towards this potential future." Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, told the New York Times, "But if you have an ear, it's much more realistic."
