Read the fine print! 3D organs may save your life
WE WILL soon be able to donate lungs and other internal organs – to ourselves.
Our own tissue will be used to print these organs, even skin and bone.
The best news is that it will be so affordable that most people will be able to do it, experts say.
Until now researchers have only begun printing small quantities of human cells and synthetic skin.
This is called Additive Manufacturing – 3D printing of biological tissue and organs (bioprinting).
“Recent advancements in 3D-printing technology means cells may soon actually withstand being transplanted on to a human and behave like human skin and organs,” said Don Vermeulen, director of Build Volume, a Joburg-based 3D printing company.
Speaking at the Norton Rose Fulbright medical annual law seminar this week, Vermeulen said: “We are very close to printing an entire lung and other internal organs for patients using their cells and tissue. We will be able to generate and transplant tissues, including skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and cartilage. But this kind of practice is still in its infant stage,” he says.
However, Rick Robinson, Norton Rose Fulbright global co-head of healthcare says this technology creates new scenarios for liability.
Some of these scenarios include defective bulk printing, a defective digital file or human error in using the 3D printer, according to him.
“Another issue is that the end users who have been injured from a 3D-printed product could be left wondering who is liable, the manufacturer or surgeon, for example, if it was a 3D-printed hip implant,” says Robinson.
But he adds since the technology has rapidly increased in availability, it also has multiple applications in the medical-device industry, including helping medical manufacturing to accelerate processes of turning a prototype to a marketable product, which allows manufacturers to make modifications quickly to meet specifications of end users.
Sinal Govender, associate in intellectual property at Norton Rose Fulbright, says 3D printers and printing will be so affordable virtually any one will soon be able to afford it.
“Oscar Pistorius will be able to 3D print prosthetics for personal use,” says Govender.
She says in the past year the medical field has benefited from 3D printing.
“Last year saw the world’s first 3D printed pill receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and is now being shipped to pharmacies. The pill, Spritam, is used to treat epilepsy.”
Just last month, Shila, a 2-year-old dog, whose hind legs were chopped off in a lawnmower accident, was able to get back on her paws.
She is going walkies again after receiving a set of 3D-printed limbs.
The hound lost her legs after they got caught in the blades of a lawnmower eight months ago in the Polish town of Lublin. While 3D-printed prosthetics are already available, the long wait for an organ from a donor will be a thing of the past if you can donate to yourself, says Robinson.