Could 3D printing solve the organ transplant shortage?

The Manchester Guardian ^ | July 30, 2017 | Tim Lewis

[2ndDivisionVet]

Erik Gatenholm first saw a 3D bioprinter in early 2015. His father, Paul, a professor in chemistry and biopolymer technology at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, had bought one for his department. It cost somewhere in the region of $200,000. “My father was like, ‘This thing can print human organs,’” Gatenholm recalls, still awestruck. “I said, ‘Bulls#*+!’ Then it printed a little piece of cartilage. It wasn’t cartilage, but it was like, this could be cartilage. That was the moment when it was like, ‘This is frickin’ cool!’”

Gatenholm, who had long owned a regular 3D printer, decided then that he wanted to do something in 3D bioprinting. His language might be a bit Bill & Ted – he grew up between Sweden and the US, where his father is a visiting professor – but his intent and ambitions are very serious. Gatenholm had started his first biotech company aged 18 and he realised that if this machine had the potential to print organs, like his father said, then it had the potential to radically change the world of medicine.

There is a global shortage of organs available for lifesaving transplants. In the UK, for example, you can now expect to wait an average of 944 days – more than two-and-a-half years – for a kidney transplant on the NHS. There’s a similar shortage of liver, lungs and other organs. The lack of transplant tissues is estimated to be the leading cause of death in America. Around 900,000 deaths a year, or around one-third of all deaths in the US, could be prevented or delayed by organ or engineered tissue transplants. The demand, simply, is endless....

[Wonder Warthog]

"The Roland MDX-40 is somewhere in the neighborhood of $8000, approximately 40x more than what I spent on my Monoprice Maker Select printer. Even the 6040 4axis Chinese machines that I pine after are typically only around a thousand dollars."

Which is why the business bought it rather than me. I mentioned it more as an indicator of what can be done with a physically light-duty CNC machine.

Yeah, I've drooled over the 6040 stuff, but I keep hoping for something better. If I could find a dual-purpose unit for ~$2K, I'd probably spring for it.

[editor-surveyor]

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>> “Could 3D printing solve the organ transplant shortage?” <<

No!
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[2ndDivisionVet]

Make a note to check back on that comment in 2025.

[editor-surveyor]

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LOL!

The “Day of Trumpets” when all Earthly kingdoms become the Kingdoms of Yehova is in the fall of 2024.
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