The first 3D printed full-scale human heart model shocked

Recently, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University invented a new type of hydrogel printing method and made a full-scale model for hospital organs. The researchers realized the first 3D printed full-scale human body through research. The biological model of the heart has made major breakthroughs in how physicians and surgeons perform heart surgery and study other diseases.

After many studies, the first 3D bio-printed full-scale human heart model was obtained. Adam Feinberg, professor of biomedical engineering and materials science engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, led the team, using a customized free-style suspension Hydrogel Reversible Intercalation Technology (FRESH) developed this model. Researchers at the college obtained the first 3D bioprinted full-scale human heart model of the human heart. This model was created using a specially manufactured 3D printer based on MRI data. It was developed by the team for two years to prepare for heart surgery for surgeons. New results. Feinberg said in the press release: “We can now build a model that can not only perform visual training, but also perform physical operations. When the surgeon performs heart surgery, let it react like real tissue, so When the doctor enters the operating room, the doctor’s work experience will be tempered and improved. The model mimics the texture (including elasticity) of the actual human heart tissue and provides a realistic picture on which the surgeon can exercise his skills. In addition to performing clinical simulations, this model also has long-term potential to influence future research in organ bioengineering.

A realistic heart model that allows surgeons to cut, stitch, and operate. Feinberg and his team have developed a new type of 3D Printing soft polymer. This polymer has been difficult to print in history and lacks certainty in the additive manufacturing process.的rigidity. To make up for this shortcoming, FRESH 3D printing uses needles to inject bio-ink into the soft hydrogel bath to support the object during printing. Once the printing is completed, the process will heat to melt the hydrogel, leaving only the 3D printed object, confirming that FRESH is a printing platform, and the researchers can print a complete human heart. At the same time, a new 3D printer is specially assembled. , Specially accommodate the gel support bath, the size should be compatible with the printing ratio, in addition, the software platform must be fine-tuned to maintain the printing speed and quality. Feinberg said: The final model is composed of a soft natural polymer of alginate. This polymer makes the bioprinted heart have characteristics similar to human heart tissue. For surgeons, this means that they can be used similar to real Cut, sew and manipulate the model in the way of the heart. In fact, although large hospitals already have facilities for 3D printing models of human organs and other parts of the body, they are usually made of hard plastic or rubber, which cannot satisfy the surgeon’s experience of simulating the operation.

Continue to study human heart models and strive to create more organ models. Researchers have published papers about their work in the ACS Journal of Biomaterials Science and Engineering. The next goal of the Feinberg team is to allow surgeons and clinicians to truly experience real-life hospital surgical scenes from the developed technologies and models. Researcher Eman Mirdamadi (Eman Mirdamadi) also hopes that their work can provide information for future bioprinting technology, using this or similar technology to create more functional human organs. He said in the press release: “Although there are still obstacles to bioprinting a full-size human heart, we are proud to use the FRESH platform to help build the foundation work while demonstrating the direct application of surgical simulation in reality.