Louisville Scientists Seek to 3D Print a Heart for Implant [Video]

Scientists of the University of Louisville seek to create a new heart with human cells through a 3D printer to implant it into a patient.

Despite the project seeming unreal and futuristic, researchers have managed to print splints, valves and even human ears, along with cardiac valves, veins with cells and other human parts through various methods, according to biologist Stuart Williams of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, a joint society between the university and the Jewish Hospital of Louisville, quoted by The Associated Press.

For the scientists, the biggest challenge is making the cells work as a team as they do in a normal heart; however, an organ built with cells from the patient might eliminate the compatibility problem sometimes seen in donation cases, also eliminating the need to provide drugs to prevent the rejection.

Stuart Williams considers that a heart made through a 3D printer might be tested in a human patient in the next 10 years, having those patients with cardiac problems who are not candidates for an artificial heart, such as children whose thoracic cavities are too small for an artificial heart.

Hospitals in Louisville have a long history of achievements in the field. The second artificial heart success in the US, the Jarvik 7, was implanted in Louisville in the mis-1980's. Doctors of the University of Louisville implanted the first autonomous artificial heart, the AbioCor, in 2001, according to the AP.