Hybrid 3-D Printer Used to Create Cartilage Implants at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine have pioneered an approach to replace damaged cartilage, combining two low-cost techniques.

The team’s breakthrough mixes electrospinning with medical inkjet printing, also called bioprinting. 

The development has potential for the medical field. Injured natural cartilage is slow and difficult to heal, and has almost no ability to regrow itself. Currently, surgeons treat cartilage damage caused from injury or disease with techniques that remove small pieces of torn tissue or create microscopic grafts. But as of yet, they have been unable to fully regenerate the cushioning, lubricating tissue that keeps joints moving freely and bones from wearing against each other. As a result, degenerative cartilage conditions can eventually result in joint replacement surgery.

This new procedure may effectively eradicate these invasive procedures and spell relief for countless people who suffer from cartilage conditions. Read more.

Lab-Grown Anal Sphincters

Researchers have built the first functional anal sphincters in the lab, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle and nerve cells, the sphincters developed a blood supply and maintained function when implanted in mice. The results are reported in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

“In essence, we have built a replacement sphincter that we hope can one day benefit human patients. This is the first bioengineered sphincter made with both muscle and nerve cells, making it ‘pre-wired’ for placement in the body,” said senior author Khalil N. Bitar, Ph.D., a professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Read more.

Atala Featured on "The Innovators" a Bloomberg News program

Dr. Anthony Atala was featured recently on " The Innovators" a program of Bloomberg News. Bloomberg News says "the world is swirling with ideas on how to make money, but true innovation changes the way we live."

The program discusses how Atala engineers human organs and the latest organ (the liver) to be tackled after his work with urethras, kidneys, and bladders. Atala concludes by asking a question that defines the true mission of his work: "How can we increase the number of tissues we bring to patients and how can we make more patients benefit from these technologies?"

World's First Tissued Engineered Urethras Deemed A Success

First bladders, now urethras. A research team form the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine built engineered urethras (urinary tubes) for five boys using their own cells. After six years , all five boys are doing well and functioning normally. The alternative would have been an artificial graft with a 50% chance of failure or a lifetime of urinary tract infections and incontinence issues.

Dr. Anthony Atala remarked " This is an example of how the strategies of tissue engineering can be applied to multiple tissues and organs."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12666171http://

TED Touts Printing a Human Kidney

In the last ten years, the number of patients needing organ donations has more than doubled, yet the number of organ transplants has not proportionately increased. Every day patients die waiting for an organ donation. Dr. Anthony Atala asks the question,"Can we grow the organs instead of transplanting them?"

See a 3D printer output a human kidney. Meet Luke, a patient with an engineered bladder, healthy and well, ten years later. http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html

From Bladders to Bowels... Newsweek Notes the Potential of Regenerative Medicine

In "The Race to Grow New Organs" Newsweek magazine talks about recent progress in the field growing new organs and mentions Anthony Atala and Wake Forest's Insitute of Regenerative Medicine.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/07/future-of-medicine-growing-new-organs.html