Washington, Sept. 25 (ANI): University laboratories and private companies are taking small steps to build small organs by using 3D-printing technology.
3D-printing technology offers better speed and computer-guided precision to print living cells layer by layer to make replacement skin, body parts and perhaps eventually organs like hearts, livers and kidneys, Fox News reported.
Tony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said the difficulty of building organs with 3D printing falls into about four levels of complexity.
He pointed that the flat structures with mostly one type of cell, like human skin, represent the easiest organs to make.
Second, tubular structures having two major cell types, like blood vessels, pose a bigger challenge.
Atala asserted that the third level of complexity arises in hollow organs like the stomach or bladder, each having more complicated functions and interactions with other organs.
He finally pointed towards the fourth level of complexity, which includes organs like heart, liver and kidneys, which are the ultimate goal for bioprinting pioneers. (ANI)
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