3D Bioprinting To Greatly Impact Organ Transplant Shortage

in #technology7 years ago (edited)

3D printing technology is contributing to a significant transformation in many different industry spaces today.

From mass manufacturing to healthcare, it's helping to innovate in areas of education, and much more. Great strides continue to be made in advancing this technology and one of the most promising areas is in healthcare. 3D printing is already used to create personalized products, from organ models to prosthetics.

One of the areas that is greatly helping to fuel success in the industry is the pressure to reduce healthcare costs and improve standards, and 3D printing is helping to do that.

The bioprinting market is expected to triple over the next few years, estimated to surpass the $1.33 billion mark by 2021.

There is a global shortage of organs for transplants and those who need one might have to wait years before they get the chance to receive one. It's estimated that about 20 people die every day because they can't get the transplant that they need.

The lack of transplant tissue is credited as being one of the leading causes of death in the US.

3D printing technology could play a big role in producing unique, personalized transplant tissues. Those working in this space believe that we aren't too far off now from being able to create organs from scratch that could be used for transplants. They've already seen success with printed parts of lung, heart, and kidney muscle.

Cosmetics companies are also looking to take advantage of using 3D printing to produce 3D printed skin, this would help them eliminate their need for testing on animals.

And the process ain't cheap. Some of the top machines on the market today for bioprinting cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Though there are some other cheaper options out there.

Those in the field say that they suspect that within 6 years that we might finally start to see organ bioprinting become a reality, though it might come a lot faster than that.

Johnson & Johnson is said to be so convinced of the potential here for success in the bioprinting arena, that they've already formed partnerships with biotechnology firms and academics interested in the subject. And they aren't the only ones, there will be many others looking to join as well in the future.

Doctors in many different areas have been turning to 3D printers to help them improve their quality of care, by utilizing the technology to make personalized models of their patients.

This has helped them to improve their performance by enabling them to be better prepared before the surgery even starts. The personalized models allow the doctors to map out the procedure with extreme precision and that is going to help them to minimize error.

Researchers are also now looking to use this technology to fabricate tumors that can be used to help research cancer. The tumors that they make are going to be used for pharmaceutical testing; enabling more extensive research without the risk. One of the companies in this space, Cellink, is already well on its way to producing 3D printed noses and ears that are being used for medical and cosmetic research.

The medical industry isn't the only space that 3D printing technology has made its way into, but it's easy to see the vast potential here for it to provide advancement and help to improve overall efficiency. This technology could drastically help to revolutionize surgical aids and help to improve and save many lives.

Pics:
via 3dprintingindustry.com
pixabay

Sources:
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-industries-3d-printing-will-disrupt-or-decimate/
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3616360
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/30/will-3d-printing-solve-the-organ-transplant-shortage
https://medium.economist.com/printed-human-body-parts-could-soon-be-available-for-transplant-560edcbc6ef3
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/ink-3d-printer-uses-alive-watch-it-action
https://3dprint.com/199654/cellink-3d-printing-tumors/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/01/26/toddler-gets-world-first-adult-kidney-transplant-using-3d-printi/
https://3dprint.com/199654/cellink-3d-printing-tumors/
https://3dprint.com/198233/wyss-institute-organ-engineering/
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/unique-3d-printer-creates-realistic-model-patient-prostate-aims-vastly-improve
http://www.machinedesign.com/3d-printing/look-future-medical-3d-printing-part-1
https://www.designnews.com/materials-assembly/artificial-organ-models-3d-printed-lifelike-characteristics/172702805158041

Related Posts:

3D Printing Makes Its Way Into The Cremation Market

https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printing-makes-its-way-into-the-cremation-market

3D Printing Technology: Making It Faster and Cheaper

https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printing-technology-making-it-faster-and-cheaper

Undergraduate Student Uses 3D Printer To Make His Own Braces

https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/undergraduate-student-uses-3d-printer-to-make-his-own-braces

Sort:  

Hi brother @doitvoluntarily
Thank you for sharing
I liked this article and really deserved it Resteem This Post

Now this is very cool technology @doitvoluntarily ! its going to revelutionize and change the world ! Just think how many lives will be saved , its just fantastic ! This deserves to be shared my friend ! Upped and resteemed !👍👍👍😀💕💕💕

nice post, thanks for sharing.

Great post bud.Love the amount of effort you put into your posts.I try to do the same check me out.

Fabulous post sir.
Thanks for share.Great strides continue to be made in advancing this technology and one of the most promising areas is in healthcare.

Wow what a good read! Thanks so much for sharing and keep it coming!

Hey bro. You always give a very good post and very useful. Thank you very much for sharing @doitvoluntarily.

There is a global shortage of organs for transplants and those who need one might have to wait years before they get the chance to receive one.

From all the different and amazing applications of this technology, this is the one, i think, presents the real life-changing potential it has. I just hope procedures involving artificial organs get a boom with this trending.

Hmm. That could end the organ harvesting black market... that would be awesome.

Don't forget about teeth prosthetics!! This is absolutely going to be one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine!
Nice post mate.
Cheers

thanks for taking the time to stop by! :)

Very interesting article!
It is amazing to hear that technology can do so many good things! Sometimes it is hard to stay positive about the technological change when one hears how much harm it can do to humanity but news like this make it better again :)
Thanks for sharing @doitvoluntarily!

This is amazing!You all seem to be great individuals.Love seeing this kind of stuff.I'm looking forward to attending some Steemit meetups as well.

This got me pumped about working harder on my own Steemit profile :)
Thanks for sharing...upvote pls friend

fantastic post well done

Please Like my posts,I am trying to improve

3D-printing is a very serious scientific innovation that is set to impact positively on medicare.

this is power of science ....

Great post, thanks for sharing. I hope J&J doesn't monopolize the 3D Bioprinting industry through mergers and acquisitions.

Good news. This is a wonderful development for the good of man. I think world governments need to Fund such projects, health care, and less military industry. Progress is so fast. Very happy when he goes in the direction of improving people's lives.

such good ideas shouldn't need to be funded with force, voluntary exchanges are preferable

Yes, I'm talking about. Probably I inaccurately expressed, since I know English bad. I mean, the best solution is funding peace projects aimed at helping people. And the financing of arms and military developments to reduce costs. It would be a big step in establishing a stable and peaceful environment in the world. In my opinion, governments are spending too much money to Finance their armies. Why? We are all preparing for war? Isn't it better to put some of that money on health care, education. It would be a step stating that we all strive for a peaceful future.

policing the world costs a lot!

Perhaps my thoughts of a utopia. But it seems to me that if many States will reduce their spending on the army, it will be a sign that humanity is ready for reconciliation, and the good life. This will be a sign that nobody is willing to fight. And these huge finances go for a good cause. On health care, on improving the environment. But unfortunately, I understand that this will not happen. And every year millions will be spent on new weapons for new military development.

They always invent a new enemy, North Korea, Russia, Iran, Libya, Russia again, the media plays along with it, and boom, next war please, bored of it all now, and still people vote, I just do not get it any more, when will we learn? never it seems, I like @doitvoluntarily ideas more, than any government, there is no need for force.

3D printing is revolutionary! I have done some work with a local company. Check out my post https://steemit.com/technology/@annhoyblog/when-victor-picked-up-his-own-hand-i-knew-3d-printing-was-real

Also upped ! Great job !! 👍👍👍

Sho, it is fantastic how intricately technology has evolved in the past decade!

I've been trying to keep an eye on this space for a couple years now, as one of my close high school friend's dad doesn't have kidneys. He's also pretty low on the transplant list being a single man in his early 60s. So excited and ready for these technologies to be ready for market. I'm also thinking that, depending on costs and availability, printing organs and tissues could also help take away potential clients of black market organ deals and human trafficking.