Bioprinting organs, how plausible and how soon?

[Noclevername]

How long, if ever, until we're able to 3D print cell layers to run off complex organs like hearts, kidneys and livers?

[Ara Pacis]

I'll get HP right on it.

[Noclevername]

I know that things like blood vessels and skin grafts and earlobes have already been done, but for most major organs it will take microscopic tolerances as well as, in many cases, specialized cells. The most advanced project being worked on now is a heart valve.

[John Jaksich]

I am not too sure of what you are asking---but as a potential example---> I had a semi-routine medical procedure done a few months ago, and the two professionals performing it were so well versed in the procedure that they could note any difference between the result and textbook "normalness". However, as you may (?) guess, these professionals know the ins-and-outs of human organs---they could potentially add their wealth of knowledge to a database of organ morphology and function----but they would be "potentially" overstressed in a workplace capacity.

So at this point, I believe there would be a bottleneck in the paucity of professionals who could help to characterize such morphologies and functions. As with almost every professional capacity--there are shortages of qualified professionals. The one true "silver-lining" is that we can and are "commencing" to store the knowledge needed to study such morphologies in large databases.

It almost seems like a catch-22 position that we are in---too much data and not enough people to analyze, quantify and characterize it?

It certainly sounds familiar?

[Paul Wally]

I know that things like blood vessels and skin grafts and earlobes have already been done, but for most major organs it will take microscopic tolerances as well as, in many cases, specialized cells. The most advanced project being worked on now is a heart valve.

I don't think tolerances are that important when it comes to biological systems. The reason is that biological systems are adaptive and flexible, so it's more a problem of designing the tissue or organ such that it dynamically maintains it's function under varying conditions. I believe growth is a better description of this process than printing, if you know what I mean.

[Noclevername]

I don't think tolerances are that important when it comes to biological systems. The reason is that biological systems are adaptive and flexible, so it's more a problem of designing the tissue or organ such that it dynamically maintains it's function under varying conditions. I believe growth is a better description of this process than printing, if you know what I mean.

Some of the articles I've read talk about specific cells migrating in the structure of a printed blood vessel. I don't know how much that would hold true for the more complex organs, but if it does then the end results might happen sooner than I expected.

[HenrikOlsen]

Currently it looks like the most promising work is done with 3-D printing structural elements and I suspect that's going to be the main area for a while.
Stuff such as bone and cartilage grafts to replace missing parts, with the rest of the tissue allowed to grow back over the structure by itself.
Blood vessels would count as structural too.

[Paul Wally]

This 3-D printing looks like something that could work nicely in the production of artificial organs, e.g. artificial kidneys.

[NEOWatcher]

This 3-D printing looks like something that could work nicely in the production of artificial organs, e.g. artificial kidneys.

I think kidneys would be among the hardest ones to reproduce. Like you said earlier about adaptive and flexible, the kidney is among the least regenerative and complex organs.
It's also a glandular organ which (IMO) could bring other complexities to the process.

I know that things like blood vessels and skin grafts and earlobes have already been done, but for most major organs it will take microscopic tolerances as well as, in many cases, specialized cells. The most advanced project being worked on now is a heart valve.

I'm not sure if a heart valve is that complex. It's currently being done with bovine and porcine replacements along with artificial replacements.

Blood vessels would count as structural too.

I would probably break those out as "containment" along with something like the bladder, but the idea still holds.

I'm not sure if 3d printing would be any better than current growing methods.
Lab bladders have been done for years now and successfully transplanted.

[HenrikOlsen]

I would probably break those out as "containment" along with something like the bladder, but the idea still holds.

I'm not sure if 3d printing would be any better than current growing methods.
Lab bladders have been done for years now and successfully transplanted.

I think what I meant was something like 'replacements where the mechanical properties are the main criterion', structural was just the first word I thought of as a shorthand for that.

[John Jaksich]

I think kidneys would be among the hardest ones to reproduce. Like you said earlier about adaptive and flexible, the kidney is among the least regenerative and complex organs.
It's also a glandular organ which (IMO) could bring other complexities to the process.


. . . ..

Kidneys are quite like a selective sponge---filtering toxins and unwanted waste---and allowing clean blood to go back to the arteries.

[Noclevername]

Kidneys are quite like a selective sponge---filtering toxins and unwanted waste---and allowing clean blood to go back to the arteries.

But their internal structure is far more complex than a sponge, with almost a dozen cell types in various patterns and configurations.

[John Jaksich]

But their internal structure is far more complex than a sponge, with almost a dozen cell types in various patterns and configurations.

I am not trying to lead anyone astray----But thanks for the correction . . .

[Paul Wally]

I think kidneys would be among the hardest ones to reproduce. Like you said earlier about adaptive and flexible, the kidney is among the least regenerative and complex organs.
It's also a glandular organ which (IMO) could bring other complexities to the process.

What I have in mind is more something that performs the same primary function as the natural organ but doesn't necessarily have the same morphology. So basically an artificial kidney would just be a dialysis machine the size of a kidney. But I agree, the functioning of an actual kidney would be much more complex.

[NEOWatcher]

So basically an artificial kidney would just be a dialysis machine the size of a kidney.

Up to the point of calling it dialysis, it might be possible if they could develop the right type of membranes to truly mimic what the kidney does. It wouldn't substitute for a true kidney because of the glandular properties, but it would help avoid dialysis which would have the same issues. I'm not sure if this can be applied to "3d printing" of an organ.

Dialysis requires vast amounts of a clean dextrose/saline type of solution to absorb the waste products. It works different than a kidney since the kidney produces it's own "clean" solution as it works (basically it expels more than it needs to, and re-absorbs the good stuff). A person at the point of needing a kidney will go through at least 5 liters of this fluid per day.