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We're Getting Closer To Mass Production of Bones, Organs, and Implants (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the getting-there dept.

Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells with 3D printers for more than a decade. Now a few companies are getting closer to mass production of higher-order tissues (bone, cartilage, organs) and other individually tailored items, including implants. From an article: Organovo has successfully transplanted human liver tissue into mice to cure chronic liver failure. Pending the success of human trials, possible applications include the $3 billion market for inherited conditions such as hemophilia. [...] Aspect prints tissue cells to create structures that resemble parts of the human body, such as an airway or meniscus, to spur easier research on treatments for, say, asthma or muscle tears. By taking muscle cells from a lung, for example, the company built respiratory tissue that responded to common asthma inhalers as a person's body should. [...] Materialise designs custom 3D-printable implants, surgical guides, and other medical devices. It's waiting on approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for implants designed to fuse bones.

54 comments

  1. I 3d printed a prostetic hand once by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    guess what I did with it

    1. Re:I 3d printed a prostetic hand once by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      Did you sell it to a president as a hand enlargement?

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re: I 3d printed a prostetic hand once by Type44Q · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you were cursed with small hands, would your hands really be the first thing you'd replace?! ;)

    3. Re: I 3d printed a prostetic hand once by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      would you replace anything? your small hands would make your small penis look normal.

  2. Does this include genitalia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I suppose that "organs" would include genitalia? Will this revolutionize the creation of transsexuals? For example, will a female-to-male transsexual be able to get a fully-functional penis capable of erecting on its own (without using pumps and embedded airbag technologies), and testes capable of producing actual sperm, grown for her in a laboratory? Will the same be possible for male-to-female transsexuals who want a fully functional set of vulva, vagina, uterus and ovaries?

    I could see applications for these developments even for people who aren't transsexuals. Suppose a man is born with micropenis syndrome. Could this technology be used to grow a new, larger penis for such an individual, which could replace his own small and perhaps useless micropenis?

    1. Re:Does this include genitalia? by gnick · · Score: 2

      Suppose a man is born with micropenis syndrome. Could this technology be used to grow a new, larger penis for such an individual, which could replace his own small and perhaps useless micropenis?

      I'm, uh, asking for a friend.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    2. Re:Does this include genitalia? by NaCh0 · · Score: 1

      What do you think the mass production of bones meant?

    3. Re:Does this include genitalia? by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      Suppose a man is born with micropenis syndrome. Could this technology be used to grow a new, larger penis for such an individual

      I think growing larger hands would be important for public appearances.

      There would also be some utility in growing a brain. A conscience. A soul.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    4. Re:Does this include genitalia? by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      The mass production of bones would mean more and lower cost Jell-O dessert. (Clue: it's made from bones.)

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    5. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gelatin's made from throw-away parts. We're not going to bring price down any by synthesizing them.

    6. Re:Does this include genitalia? by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Informative

      No it's not yet because those things are more technically challenging. In genitals, you have dense arrays of nerves, pretty complex blood vessels, a bunch of "filler" tissue, the urethra, and skin. What is technically possible now is growing one type of cell or tissue, that's routine, with research starting to get into multiple types of cells grown together. Two different types of cells together gets much more complicated, and growing them together in a specific structure, rather than a random blend, at scales big enough to see without a microscope... that's beyond capabilities at the moment.

      On top of that, the focus remains on the simpler tissues for economic reasons. If you can grow a liver in a dish (Organovo's main focus) you can make billions testing drugs for safety. One of the most common reasons expensive drug candidates fail is they kill your liver, another common reason is that drug candidates get processed in the liver to become something toxic to somewhere else. Doing this testing in animals is hideously expensive, slow, and often not very good at actually predicting how it will do in humans. Testing in human cells in a dish would be much easier. Drug testing is extremely expensive but also necessary. So it's a huge market. Genital replacement on the other hand is pretty low-demand compared to that. So there's huge economic advantages to focusing on the simpler goal, much less in creating much more complex genitals.

      Genital repair should eventually be a goal though if we actually care at all about our soldiers or those other unfortunate individuals you mentioned. It's worth serious consideration, this is no joke, and feel free to smack down anyone in the future who brings it up lightly by pointing out it's an important goal even though "LOL WEINERS." And people are definitely working on it. Just it's not going to happen before we get livers in a dish.

    7. Re: Does this include genitalia? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      It's made from noses, ears, hooves, beaks... thinkcartilage.

    8. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No it's not yet because those things are more technically challenging. In genitals, you have dense arrays of nerves, pretty complex blood vessels, a bunch of "filler" tissue, the urethra, and skin. What is technically possible now is growing one type of cell or tissue, that's routine, with research starting to get into multiple types of cells grown together.

      At the risk of sounding childish, I think breast implants would actually be an ideal candidate for this sort of thing. Lots of people already pay lots of money for them, so it's a proven market. Though many uses may be cosmetic, they can aid greatly in living a normal life after a mastectomy. Fake breast implants are NOT natural feeling, and often don't look natural either, so a natural augmentation would be great for all involved. The implanted part can be just a bunch of "filler" tissue, which this process should be fairly good at creating, if I'm not mistaken.

      I'm selfishly looking forward to the liver prospects, and I can completely understand that there are lots of organs/tissues/etc that would help with actual and serious medical issues far more than breast augmentation or livers for boozers, but can't we have both? (IE: can't some people fork this off and do breasts, and maybe pump some money back to the medical research in the process?)

    9. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't think we are going to get that far.

      Here's what we are going to get:
      Replacement organs and tissues, particularly hearts, lungs and livers.
      Replacement bones, or at least the equivalent of a crown or filling for a bone. Replacing an entire bone in a body likely will not be possible.

      For those undergoing gender corrective surgery, in the F2M direction they will not get a completely working penis, however they may be able to have a much more correct looking one (the issue right now is the lack of feeling, let alone mechanical action due to anything done to make it larger will inevitably require new nerves to be grown, otherwise it will remain numb.) In the M2F direction it may be possible to grow additional breast tissue (also for breast cancer survivors) instead of using saline or silicone implants. The real challenge will be growing an entire uterus and birth canal. Since M2F's don't have wide hips, they would still need a Cesarean birth. But unlike where we are today, it would not involve reusing tissue, but instead growing new tissue that actually is grown as the correct cells to begin with. Unlike the F2M direction where a clitoris IS the same tissue as a Penis in the first place, growing a new penis likely would not give feeling to it.

      3D printing testes or ovaries will never happen. These are organs that are fully formed at birth and are only "switched on" at puberty. It could be possible to "3D print" ovaries, but they would never produce an egg. Likewise testes could probably be produced but they would never produce anything. For a F2M, there is much more invasive surgeries they can do beyond taking T to become a more complete man, but for a F2M, they can completely pass on T alone as long as they were originally over 5'8". Transgender men that are under 5'8" have a harder time passing because they are not tall. But nobody will ever confuse a tall transgender man, penis or not. This is why F2M's often overcompensate by growing full beards. M2F's have the direct opposite problem where being over 5'6" with any build other than "fat" does not pass. As much as many F2M's think they pass, they do not, and risk being outed by members of the GLBT community for not passing.

      Hence for F2M's at best, a better penis could be grown, but the status quo will remain unchanged. For M2F's better breast and neo-vagina/uterus 's could be built that actually function (since the function is passive) instead of trying to recycle tissue and stretching it. But that said, unless we are talking about 3d printing an entire body, a M2F and a F2M will never completely pass for those that are not the right height.

    10. Re:Does this include genitalia? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Transplanting fat from other parts of the body to breasts is an established technology. Although the results might be more satisfactory than implants, the procedure is more risky.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    11. Re:Does this include genitalia? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Actually there was a penis transplant done recently on a cancer patient. To everyone's surprise it appeared to be a wild success, and it worked pretty well. Until the guy tried to actually use it and his wife was just too creeped out by the thing. (Maybe if she'd met the donor first... oh well.)

    12. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Hey! This just made me think of another angle. A second genitalia.. If one goes flat, you have another to use.

    13. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Your "breast implants" were not a childish subject. Considering how many females lose their breasts to cancer every year. Not funny at all.. Serious stuff..

    14. Re:Does this include genitalia? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Oh, so you're the one who voted for Trump.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    15. Re:Does this include genitalia? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Livers are a smart choice because they're relatively simple - for an organ anyway. The overall structure isn't important, just the hepatocytes, a bunch of immune cells and lots of blood vessels.

        Also given the propensity for humans to trash their livers doing at-home toxicity testing (alcohol is the number one reason for liver transplants, acetaminophen is number 2) there is a huuuge market for replacements. Very clever for a startup.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    16. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is happening to the world? Why do educated people that call themselves informed accept that there is such a thing as a soul that is disconnected from the physical body? A soul that can by accident receive the wrong body at birth. There is no such thing. Have we as a society fought so hard against the power of the church and for the right to think for ourselves just to replace the Christian fairy tails with identity politics fairy tails like being born in the wrong body? A man who thinks he is a woman has psychological problem not a biological problem.
       
      When science can 3D print an uterus, please let it be for women who had their uterus removed because of medical condition and not for this identity politics gone wrong. People can wear what they want. But you can't force people to not see a man in a dress or a wife with a beard. Even with 3-d printed sex organs you can't control the thoughts of people. This is why more and more people feel disconnected from the society. A record number of people are single. Not because they want to, but because they can't find the 'right partner'. While the classic family, the corner stone of civilization, is slowly dying out, the educated people only care about things like gay marriage, abortion, extra bathrooms, safe spaces, limiting freedom of speech, transsexual. That would be fine if the corner stone of the society would be doing fine. But with so many broken families, so many working poor, so many families that can't afford to have children, so many suicides, the number one concern should be to protect the traditional families instead of blaming them for all the problems in the world.

    17. Re:Does this include genitalia? by Anonymice · · Score: 1

      Look behind you, half the room did.

    18. Re:Does this include genitalia? by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      I'd point out the structure at a microscopic level is important. It's not yet possible to set that up in a dish. The bile ducts and canniculi don't connect themselves into a functional network I think. Blood vessel formation in cultured liver tissues is also pretty rudimentary as of yet and doesn't make tissue that has proper blood flow. They're not getting liver samples in a dish that are close enough to functioning, at least as far as I've heard. But you're right that it does organize itself better than other organs or parts, and all the other organs and parts (aside from skin) have the same issues at the moment.

  3. Just in time to start drinking again! by RCCrash · · Score: 1

    Although we'll likely never see this in the U.S. The current organ donation industry has plenty of money to hire lobbyists.

    1. Re:Just in time to start drinking again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just in time to start drinking again!

      We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable...

    2. Re:Just in time to start drinking again! by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      The "organ donation industry" is minuscule compared to big pharma who would be FOR this. As TFA says, "The company uses bioprinted tissue to test drug toxicity and effectiveness on behalf of Big Pharma companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co."

      Drug safety testing in animals is woefully inaccurate and terribly expensive compared to using human cells in a dish. This improving would really decrease their costs.

      ... anyway, really? Conspiracy theories about the organ donation industry? Aren't they non-profit? If they're so powerful, why is organ donation still an opt-in rather than an opt-out process? "Hey, how about you make people sign their drivers licenses NOT to have their organs harvested if they die in a crash, so that way we can save more lives?" If the organ donation industry has lobbyists and they're not saying that and are instead saying "Hey, how about you not fund making organs outside of people," then the organ donation industry is so stupid that we really don't need to worry about them. Bioprinting is still decades away probably from replacing livers, whearas we should have done the opt out thing decades ago. JFC, you paranoid people...

  4. Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by toonces33 · · Score: 1

    All that will happen is that rich people will get 10 and 12 inch penises.

    1. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      You say that like it would be a bad thing.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      Only if my wife gets a deeper vagina.

      More likely you'll get old rich people with suddenly youthful skin as they get theirs replaced when it starts wrinkling, sagging, and getting thin with age. And of course it'll be a massive (heh) boost for the breast augmentation industry.

      But first you'll see replacement livers, kidneys, pancreases, lungs, etc. New bones for serious trauma victims, maybe to replaced deformed bones, too.

      The real jump (not that these new technologies aren't already wonderful) will be when they can regrow and connect nerves reliably. When they can replace a damaged spine, or build a new arm... that will be awesome.

      It's exciting to think that it's possible that within my lifetime the only thing that will be irreplaceable might be the frontal lobe of the brain... and maybe we could extend life quite a bit until that part starts to fail.

    3. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by PPH · · Score: 1

      Nope. I'm not trading mine in for a compact model.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    4. Re: Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Dude, the average vagina is six-and-a-half inches deep... and yes, it's muscle so it can be "pounded deeper" (takes a few weeks of "dating" to adjust and no, it's not necessarily comfortable) but you'd only need a ten or twelve incher if you're banging heffers with a thick layer of blubber that creates additional "virtual depth" (now you know why obese women dig black dudes). ;)

    5. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want a vagina instead

    6. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would be on the list of things too :)

      Transgender people, M2F's want to be able to have sex with partners, and the smaller you are, the more pain you will incur. For F2M's, sure a bigger penis would likely be a thing.

    7. Re:Yeah, but all that will happen is.. by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      All of it empty pipe dreams until you see artificial focusable lenses. Until the produce those, the very simplest of artificial organs, all of the rest is just delusion and pipe dreams. A clear deformable bag of semi rigid fluid and still years off.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  5. Absolutely not true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells "

    Bullshit. They've been able to print WITH living cells, not print THE CELLS.

    Jesus Fucking Christ already. If we had the technology to 3D print CELLS, we'd be gods.

    As it is, we're monkeys with a pastry bag.

    1. Re:Absolutely not true by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Scientists have been making liposomes since 1961, they're adding more and more functions to them every year. They're using them for drug delivery.

      More importantly, your argument is stupid. Was anyone confused? If I say "I printed blue ink on the paper" do you assume the printer is making ink or using ink?

  6. Need this refined before I need a knee replacement by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Sooner or later I will need a knee replacement. It would be nice to have a tissue one instead of metal and plastic.

  7. Re:Need this refined before I need a knee replacem by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Sooner or later I will need a knee replacement. It would be nice to have a tissue one instead of metal and plastic.

    I could use one now. I tore a meniscus in my knee a couple years ago, and it's healed as much as it will - which isn't enough. Surgery options only involve cutting it out (which leaves the bones rubbing each other) or replacing the whole joint (which is not only inferior but doesn't last as long a my current life expectancy).

    Being able to drop in a replacement, grown from a printed scaffold of generic materials seeded with my own induced-pluripotent stem cells, would just fix it. (In fact it should fix it to be as good as it was decades ago, or maybe even better than it ever was.)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  8. All You Can Eat Ribs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want my...

  9. Re:Need this refined before I need a knee replacem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your body grew itself from a single cell. Seems to me we have a hell of a lot of learning to do. If we could just tell your knee to grow just what it needs, that would be the real technology we need. A stupid salamander can grow back an entire leg!

  10. I want a whole new body, including head & brai by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's all benefit from this new technology.

  11. And everyone's collective minds are in the gutter by watermark · · Score: 1

    Are we just pretending that "Bones", "Organs", and "Implants" and not mildly amusing when used together in the same sentence?

  12. Hey! I got a question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we eat human meat produced in the lab?

  13. So ready by OYAHHH · · Score: 1

    As an arthritis sufferer I am so ready for this. It can't come soon enough.

    --
    Caution: Contents under pressure
  14. Next step, life extension by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or is that taboo? We'll explore space and colonize the Galaxy, but don't you dare do anything else but gain weight and slow down at 40!

    1. Re:Next step, life extension by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Seeing that, for the foreseeable future, it will be robots exploring space and colonizing the Galaxy, you might as well just get on with middle age.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  15. Slashdotters, you disappoint me by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Scan through comments
    See mainly comments about growing penises as replacements or for gender reassignment

    Seriously, Slashdotters? With how much technology like this could improve the quality of life for so many, this is the first thing you think of? Shame on all of you.

  16. TV Show? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    Will we get to see it on 'How it's Made'?

  17. Get rid of grey hair - bad knees? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    Could end up being very interesting!

  18. Re:Need this refined before I need a knee replacem by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

    Actually what you want is a new meniscus, not the whole shebang. And that is certainly a possibility. Again, it's fairly 'simple' - 'just' cartilage. The big issue is going to be testing. It's going to be years before the FDA approves this. They're going to have to find an animal model, run that for a while and then do human trials. And obviously, one of the primary things to look for is longevity. I doubt they will find a mouse model to work with. Need a bigger, slower growing critter.

    Probably will show up along with holographic storage and fusion power.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  19. Can't 3D print cells yet by arobatino · · Score: 1

    Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells with 3D printers for more than a decade.

    I think they meant to say tissues, not cells. Printing living cells is a bit more advanced.

    1. Re:Can't 3D print cells yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tissues are made up of cells.

  20. now there's a new industry by KingBenny · · Score: 1

    Should have a serious impact on the economy i guess
    will need at least 100 employees who are overtrained einstein-class geniuseses to operate and 50 more who are simply genius to clean out the rubbish bins. The rest can be done with printers but
    still a lifesaver yea

    --
    Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?