Biotech company says woman received 3D printed ear made from her own cells

Story at a glance

• A 20-year-old woman is the first to receive a 3D printed ear implant made from her own cells.

• The transplant is part of 3DBio Therapeutics’ ongoing clinical trial of the proprietary reconstructive procedure that could revolutionize how doctors repair or replace tissue and organs.

• 3DBio Therapeutics says the ear matures over time and develops the characteristics of a human ear, including flexibility, elasticity and a typical “look and feel.”

Doctors say they have successfully transplanted a 3D printed ear implant made from human cells onto a patient who was born with microtia, a rare birth defect in which the outer ear is deformed.

3DBio Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company, announced the breakthrough Thursday and said it was the first time a 3D printed implant made of living tissue was used to replace a body part a patient was either born without or lost due to trauma or disease.

The transplant is part of 3DBio Therapeutics’ ongoing clinical trial of the proprietary reconstructive procedure that could revolutionize how doctors repair or replace tissue and organs. A 20-year-old woman from Mexico who was born with microtia received the ear implant in March.

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Researchers isolated chondrocytes — cells responsible for cartilage formation — from a tissue sample taken from the patient and grew more of the cells using a specialized cell culture system.

The cells were then mixed with a collagen-based bio-ink that was then shaped by a 3D-bioprinter into an implant, known as AuriNovo, mirroring the size and shape of the patient’s opposite ear. The ear was then implanted in the patient.

3DBio Therapeutics says the ear matures over time and develops the characteristics of a human ear, including flexibility, elasticity and a typical “look and feel.”

“As a physician who has treated thousands of children with microtia from across the country and around the world, I am inspired by what this technology may mean for microtia patients and their families,” Dr. Arturo Bonilla, a leading pediatric ear reconstructive surgeon who performed the procedure, said in a statement.

“This study will allow us to investigate the safety and aesthetic properties of this new procedure for ear reconstruction using the patient’s own cartilage cells. My hope is that AuriNovo will one day become the standard-of-care replacing the current surgical methods for ear reconstruction requiring the harvesting of rib cartilage or the use of porous polyethylene implants,” Bonilla said.

An estimated 1,500 babies are born with microtia per year. The defect can also result in hearing loss due to abnormalities of the ear canal or middle ear.

The breakthrough procedure is among several recent strides to advance organ and tissue transplants in patients.

Earlier this year, a 57-year-old man who had previously been suffering from late-stage heart disease and was deemed ineligible for a traditional heart transplant was the recipient of the world’s first pig heart transplant.

He died, however, two months after his surgery. Doctors said the heart was not rejected and worked well in the weeks following the surgery, and later discovered the heart was infected with a porcine virus that may have contributed to the patient’s death.

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