A 3D printed ear transplanted to a patient: it's the first time

For the first time in the world, 3D printing has managed to create a part of the human body destined for a transplant .

The New York Times broke the news. The feat was completed by 3DBio Therapeutics , a biotechnology company in Queens, USA , which 3D printed an ear with the patient's human cells , which was transplanted to a 20-year-old woman born with the small and deformed right ear.

It is, say the experts, an " extraordinary advance in the field of tissue engineering ".

The new ear, transplanted in March, was molded in a shape that exactly matched the woman's left ear, the regenerative medicine company explained. And now it will continue to regenerate cartilage tissue , giving it the look and feel of a natural ear.

"It's definitely a great thing," said Adam Feinberg , a professor of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and co-founder of FluidForm, a regenerative medicine company that also uses 3D printing.

"This shows that this technology is no longer an 'if', but a 'when'," he continued.

Meanwhile, the clinical trial, which includes 11 patients, is still ongoing and it is possible that transplants could fail or lead to unforeseen health complications. However, since the cells come from the patient's own tissue, 3DBio says it is likely that the new ear will not be rejected by the body.

(Unioneonline / lf)