Cidersomerset
31st July 2013, 10:36
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31 July 2013 Last updated at 10:48
Artificial human ear grown in labBy Helen Briggs
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69026000/jpg/_69026338_ear_body.jpg
Ear The ear made from animal tissue bends like a real ear
Related Stories
First synthetic organ transplant
Scientists make 'lab-grown' kidney
US scientists say they have moved a step closer to being able to grow a complete
human ear from a patient's cells.In a new development in tissue engineering, they have
grown a human-like ear from animal tissue. The ear has the flexibility of a real ear, say
researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.The technique may one day be
used to help people with missing or deformed outer ears, they believe.Tissue
engineering is a growing field in medical science, where substitute organs are made in
the laboratory in the hope of using them to replace damaged ones.
Massachusetts General Hospital
The US research team is working on artificial living ears to help people born with
malformed ears or who have lost them in accidents or trauma.Previously the
researchers had grown an artificial ear, the size of a baby's, on a mouse. In the latest
development, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, they took living
tissues from cows and sheep and grew them on a flexible wire frame that has the 3D
shape of a real human ear.This was then implanted into a rat whose immune system
they had suppressed enabling the ear to grow.
"We've demonstrated the first full-sized adult human ear on the rat model," Dr Thomas
Cervantes, who led the study, told BBC News.
It was significant for several reasons, he said.
"One - we were able to keep the shape of the ear, after 12 weeks of growth in the rat.
And then secondly we were also able to keep the natural flexibility of the cartilage."
Titanium scaffold
The cells were grown on a titanium wire scaffold that is modelled on the dimensions of a
real human ear, taken from CT scans.The new work shows that in theory it is possible to
grow up enough cells - at least in animals - to make a full-size human ear.
"In a clinical model, what we would do is harvest a small sample of cartilage, that the
patient has, and then expand that so we could go ahead and do the same process," said
Dr Cervantes.
"This research is a significant step forward in preparing the tissue-engineered ear for
human clinical trials."
He said he expected that the process could move into human clinical trials in about five
years.Other research into bioengineered organs is progressing fast.
About a dozen patients have received transplants of artificial wind pipes coated with
stem cells taken from either the patient or a donor.
Meanwhile, a kidney grown in the laboratory has been transplanted into a rat, where it
started to produce urine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23508688
======================================================
No Longer Sci-Fi: Building Human Organs in the Lab
BUi6NXrdB6k
Published on 25 Mar 2013
Building a complex human organ in the lab is no longer a dream of science fiction. At
London's Royal Free Hospital, a team of 30 scientists is manufacturing a variety of body
parts, including windpipes, noses and ears. WSJ's Gautam Naik reports. Photo: Gareth
Phillips
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Caution a bit creepy'
Artificial human ear growing in mice, Rate My Science
7QlWBnL0zjU
Published on 31 May 2012
http://ratemyscience.com/ Publish your projects or ideas at Rate My Science.
An artificial organ is a man-made device that is implanted or integrated into a human to
replace a natural organ, for the purpose of restoring a specific function or a group of
related functions so the patient may return to as normal a life as possible. While
considered a success, the use of artificial hearts is limited to patients awaiting
transplants whose death is imminent. The current state of the art devices are unable to
reliably sustain life beyond about 18 months. Artificial pacemakers are electronic
devices which can either intermittently augment (defibrillator mode), continuously
augment, or completely bypass the natural living cardiac pacemaker as needed, are so
successful that they have become commonplace. Ventricular assist devices are
mechanical circulatory devices that partially or completely replace the function of a
failing heart, without the removal of the heart itself. HepaLife is developing a bioartificial
liver device intended for the treatment of liver failure using stem cells. The artificial
liver, currently under development, is designed to serve as a supportive device, either
allowing the liver to regenerate upon acute liver failure, or to bridge the patient's liver
functions until a transplant is available.
31 July 2013 Last updated at 10:48
Artificial human ear grown in labBy Helen Briggs
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69026000/jpg/_69026338_ear_body.jpg
Ear The ear made from animal tissue bends like a real ear
Related Stories
First synthetic organ transplant
Scientists make 'lab-grown' kidney
US scientists say they have moved a step closer to being able to grow a complete
human ear from a patient's cells.In a new development in tissue engineering, they have
grown a human-like ear from animal tissue. The ear has the flexibility of a real ear, say
researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.The technique may one day be
used to help people with missing or deformed outer ears, they believe.Tissue
engineering is a growing field in medical science, where substitute organs are made in
the laboratory in the hope of using them to replace damaged ones.
Massachusetts General Hospital
The US research team is working on artificial living ears to help people born with
malformed ears or who have lost them in accidents or trauma.Previously the
researchers had grown an artificial ear, the size of a baby's, on a mouse. In the latest
development, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, they took living
tissues from cows and sheep and grew them on a flexible wire frame that has the 3D
shape of a real human ear.This was then implanted into a rat whose immune system
they had suppressed enabling the ear to grow.
"We've demonstrated the first full-sized adult human ear on the rat model," Dr Thomas
Cervantes, who led the study, told BBC News.
It was significant for several reasons, he said.
"One - we were able to keep the shape of the ear, after 12 weeks of growth in the rat.
And then secondly we were also able to keep the natural flexibility of the cartilage."
Titanium scaffold
The cells were grown on a titanium wire scaffold that is modelled on the dimensions of a
real human ear, taken from CT scans.The new work shows that in theory it is possible to
grow up enough cells - at least in animals - to make a full-size human ear.
"In a clinical model, what we would do is harvest a small sample of cartilage, that the
patient has, and then expand that so we could go ahead and do the same process," said
Dr Cervantes.
"This research is a significant step forward in preparing the tissue-engineered ear for
human clinical trials."
He said he expected that the process could move into human clinical trials in about five
years.Other research into bioengineered organs is progressing fast.
About a dozen patients have received transplants of artificial wind pipes coated with
stem cells taken from either the patient or a donor.
Meanwhile, a kidney grown in the laboratory has been transplanted into a rat, where it
started to produce urine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23508688
======================================================
No Longer Sci-Fi: Building Human Organs in the Lab
BUi6NXrdB6k
Published on 25 Mar 2013
Building a complex human organ in the lab is no longer a dream of science fiction. At
London's Royal Free Hospital, a team of 30 scientists is manufacturing a variety of body
parts, including windpipes, noses and ears. WSJ's Gautam Naik reports. Photo: Gareth
Phillips
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Caution a bit creepy'
Artificial human ear growing in mice, Rate My Science
7QlWBnL0zjU
Published on 31 May 2012
http://ratemyscience.com/ Publish your projects or ideas at Rate My Science.
An artificial organ is a man-made device that is implanted or integrated into a human to
replace a natural organ, for the purpose of restoring a specific function or a group of
related functions so the patient may return to as normal a life as possible. While
considered a success, the use of artificial hearts is limited to patients awaiting
transplants whose death is imminent. The current state of the art devices are unable to
reliably sustain life beyond about 18 months. Artificial pacemakers are electronic
devices which can either intermittently augment (defibrillator mode), continuously
augment, or completely bypass the natural living cardiac pacemaker as needed, are so
successful that they have become commonplace. Ventricular assist devices are
mechanical circulatory devices that partially or completely replace the function of a
failing heart, without the removal of the heart itself. HepaLife is developing a bioartificial
liver device intended for the treatment of liver failure using stem cells. The artificial
liver, currently under development, is designed to serve as a supportive device, either
allowing the liver to regenerate upon acute liver failure, or to bridge the patient's liver
functions until a transplant is available.