![]() The group says the same methods could be used to create other realistic organ models as well, such as livers or kidneys.įormer Carnegie Mellon student Eman Mirdamadi was another lead researcher on the project. The researchers say they also successfully 3D printed a model of a heart artery that could be used to train doctors. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging, a system for producing electronic pictures of the organs inside the body.įeinberg’s team has also experimented with pieces of tissue designed to copy the function of individual heart elements - such as valves that open and close and realistic blood vessels. They were able to use MRI images from a patient to model and print a full-size human heart. Once they had perfected the process, the researchers made additional changes to the 3D printer to produce larger objects. The team said the alginate was able to stretch to support the sutures. The researchers say alginate has very similar properties to tissues that make up the human heart.įor example, the researchers tested the 3D printed material with sutures, which doctors use to close up wounds during operations. The team’s new model heart is made from a material called alginate, a soft, natural substance made from seaweed. ![]() The method uses a gelatin substance to surround the structures during the printing so they do not collapse. So the researchers came up with their own method to 3D print soft materials. When such substances are printed in air, they quickly collapse during the process. This is because soft materials, such as collagen, start out as a liquid. The new 3D printing process was also not easy, the Carnegie Mellon team said. But those models were made of harder substances – such as plastic or rubber – that were not effective in copying the soft tissue material found in the human heart. Scientists have made 3D printed models of the human heart before. But the newly-created models also permit the doctors to “ manipulate” the heart, to experience similar reactions to working with real tissue, he added. The goal of the latest project was to use this same bioprinting technology to create a realistic, full-size model of a human heart.įeinberg said in a statement his team was able to create such a model that doctors can carefully examine to prepare for heart operations. Collagen is the main structural protein that is found in tissues throughout the human body. The team had already developed a 3D printer that could “bioprint” collagen. The team was led by biomedical engineering professor Adam Feinberg. Results were recently published in a paper in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering. The research was led by an engineering team at America’s Carnegie Mellon University. It could also be used as a basis for new research on ways to use 3D printing technology to produce fully operating hearts to replace in people. ![]() The researchers say the model heart can be a useful tool to train medical professionals in operations related to human heart function. ![]() The model was made with a specially developed 3D printer that uses biomaterials to produce a structure and tissues similar to a real human heart. American researchers say they have created the first full-size human heart model using 3D printing technology. ![]()
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