247 HEARTS PATCH

That led the team to experiment with biofabrication, a field converging 3D printing with regenerative medicine. While the medical field has begun injecting new cells into the heart to grow muscle and prevent heart contractions, it’s not an effective approach as the cells often wash away. Those suffering from a heart attack lose nearly half the cells in their heart, which makes the organ weaker. The backdrop for the study: According to the researchers, heart disease costs the European Union over $6 billion annually (factoring in healthcare costs, productivity losses, and cost of care). The multidisciplinary team of surgeons, engineers, biologists and materials scientists was trying to come up with a solution for patients with heart disease, particularly those that have suffered heart attacks. Two Dutch laboratories-The Department of Orthopedics at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, and the Experimental Cardiology Laboratory at the same institute-came together for the research, combining their respective expertise in converging 3D printing technologies for regenerative medicine applications and specific cardiology knowledge.

247 HEARTS PATCH

More recently, a form of 3D printing has been employed to create a cardiac patch used to mend compromised tissue cells after a heart attack. The technology is ushering in a new generation of custom prosthetics and surgical guides, is used to create life-like models of human organs like the heart and brain to serve as teaching props, and even serves as an experimental platform for producing on-demand pharmaceuticals.

3D printing has rapidly become a big deal in medical applications.

247 hearts