The University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong (UOW) scientists are at the forefront of a
medical revolution using 3D ‘printing’ to reproduce human body parts. Researchers from UOW’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials
Science (ACES) and St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, announced in
Melbourne today (Friday 3 May) that they are just three years away from
printing custom-made body parts, including muscle and nerve cells and
cartilage. And in just over a decade, they believe will be possible to
print human organs. “It is already possible to print 3D biocompatible plastics and metals
to manufacture patient-specific implants,” ACES Director Professor
Gordon Wallace said. “Within a few years, we believe it will be possible to manufacture
living tissues like skin, cartilage, arteries and heart valves using
cells and biomaterials. Using a patient’s own cells to create this
tissue avoids issues of immune rejection. By 2025, it is feasible that
we will be able to fabricate complete functional organs, tailored for an
individual patient.” Professor Wallace and his team are are meeting with clinicians,
medical device manufacturers and policy makers this week in Melbourne to
discuss the future of fabricated medical implants. Professor Wallace said 3D printing, or additive fabrication, uses machines to build 3D objects layer-by-layer from digital data. “While 3D printing is already being used in some medical
applications, by bringing together the materials and scientists at ACES
and the clinicians and researchers at SVH we have been able to
accelerate our progress so that we are now on the verge of a new wave of
technology leveraging 3D printing/additive fabrication techniques to
deliver solutions to a number of medical challenges. These include
bionic devices, the regeneration of nerve, muscle and bone, as well as
epilepsy detection and control.” Professor Wallace said the research would receive a huge boost next
month with the launch of an additive biofabrication unit at St Vincent’s
hospital in Melbourne, expanding the program from its base at the
University of Wollongong’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute
(IPRI), the lead node of ACES. The St Vincent’s facility will be the
first of its kind in Australia to be located in a hospital. “This is an exciting development involving the establishment of a
customised facility at St Vincent’s, Melbourne. [It] will put our
scientists and engineers in direct contact with clinicians on a daily
basis [and] is expected to fast track the realisation of practical
medical devices and the reproduction of organs,” Professor Wallace said.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
3D printed organs not far away
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