美国科学家利用3D打印机打印人耳朵

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基于耳解剖的模具设计

         美国康乃尔大学的生物工程师们和物理学家们利用三维打印和可注射模具(injectable mold)构建出人造耳。

         研究者们利用受试者耳朵的数字化三维图像，然后利用三维打印机组装模具将这种图像转化为数字化的"实体"耳。模具被移走时，这种由康乃尔大学开发出的高密度凝胶具有类似于果冻(Jell-o)的质地。胶原蛋白作为支架发挥发挥作用,在这种支架上,软骨能够生长。研究者们需要半天时间设计模具，一天左右时间打印这种模具，30分钟时间注射凝胶，15分钟后就可移走人造耳。然后对人造耳进行修整，在用于移植之前在滋养性细胞培养基中培养它几天。（生物谷）

High-Fidelity Tissue Engineering of Patient-Specific Auricles for Reconstruction of Pediatric Microtia and Other Auricular Deformities

• Published: February 20, 2013
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056506
  

Reiffel AJ, Kafka C, Hernandez KA, Popa S, Perez JL, et al.

Introduction

Autologous techniques for the reconstruction of pediatric microtia often result in suboptimal aesthetic outcomes and morbidity at the costal cartilage donor site. We therefore sought to combine digital photogrammetry with CAD/CAM techniques to develop collagen type I hydrogel scaffolds and their respective molds that would precisely mimic the normal anatomy of the patient-specific external ear as well as recapitulate the complex biomechanical properties of native auricular elastic cartilage while avoiding the morbidity of traditional autologous reconstructions.

Methods

Three-dimensional structures of normal pediatric ears were digitized and converted to virtual solids for mold design. Image-based synthetic reconstructions of these ears were fabricated from collagen type I hydrogels. Half were seeded with bovine auricular chondrocytes. Cellular and acellular constructs were imPLAnted subcutaneously in the dorsa of nude rats and harvested after 1 and 3 months.

Results

Gross inspection revealed that acellular implants had significantly decreased in size by 1 month. Cellular constructs retained their contour/projection from the animals' dorsa, even after 3 months. Post-harvest weight of cellular constructs was significantly greater than that of acellular constructs after 1 and 3 months. Safranin O-staining revealed that cellular constructs demonstrated evidence of a self-assembled perichondrial layer and copious neocartilage deposition. Verhoeff staining of 1 month cellular constructs revealed de novo elastic cartilage deposition, which was even more extensive and robust after 3 months. The equilibrium modulus and hydraulic permeability of cellular constructs were not significantly different from native bovine auricular cartilage after 3 months.

Conclusions

We have developed high-fidelity, biocompatible, patient-specific tissue-engineered constructs for auricular reconstruction which largely mimic the native auricle both biomechanically and histologically, even after an extended period of implantation. This strategy holds immense potential for durable patient-specific tissue-engineered anatomically proper auricular reconstructions in the future.

3d_gz

3D打印耳朵！顶一个！

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