Today I would like to show you a news about a so important breakthrough in medicine: "Spanish scientists will manufacture corneas with a 3D printer".
The Biomedical Research Institute of La Paz Hospital (IdiPAZ) will manufacture a complete substitute for cornea, created by cellular bioengineering from biological materials and the patient's own stem cells, which will be printed in 3D, to produce a "cornea completely equal to that of a donor ".
The Cornea in an eye
The goal is to "manufacture the first corneas for clinical use in 5 years" and produce them "tailored to the patient within a week", explains Dr. María Paz de Miguel, who heads the research team.
The project has been selected by the Foundation for Innovation and Prospective Health in Spain (Fipse), in the framework of the international “Idea2 Global” program, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
It is about creating "a biomimetic human corneal stroma, that will replace the need for human donors" and several methods are being explored to synthesise a polymeric extracellular matrix of collagen, that mimics the human cornea, Fipse explains in the note.
On this matrix, patient's own mesenchymal stem cells will be printed in 3D, thus producing tailored biological corneas to "respond to people, who need corneal transplantation and return their vision", the note adds.
In the world, annually, there are over 10 million people, who are blinded by corneal pathology, but there are not enough donors. "As novel it has everything", according to the doctor, and the result will be "an autologous transplant. Stem cells - mesenchymal - come from the fatty tissue of the patient and, using their own biological elements,there will be no rejection".
By means of 3D printing the stem cells will be added to an extracellular matrix "a scaffold for stem cells", created with nanotechnology tools. "Mentorization of Fipse at MIT --the researcher explains-- will allow us to explore different nanotechnologies, to build this scaffold" with parallel collagen fibers, with specific distances that guarantee corneal transparency.
For its part, nanotechnology will allow to create the material that is capable after being printable in 3D. "It is a manufacture, not a culture of corneas", she adds.
It is outstanding to resolve the type of nanotechnology, that will be used, to create the material that allows the stem cells to print, says the researcher for whom "the eye will recognize the cornea manufactured, just like the transplanted one".
The doctor will remove "the receiving cornea, which is opaque, and replace it with this prosthesis, which will be custom-made for each patient. We do not expect rejection, because the material to be used is collagen, which is inert, and its own stem cells of the patient", so that it would become a definitive prosthesis, she asserts.
Although it is too early to know how long the process will last, "we can manufacture all the corneas that are needed. What will occupy us most will be to characterise the stem cells of each patient. We believe that, within a week, the cornea may be manufactured", according to the doctor.
The team is working, with experts from MIT and Harvard, in a "very interactive" work, that will last until the end of this year.
Well, I think that this project is so important, for everybody, because it could save many lives. Therefore, I encourage to all scientists, who are researching some new possibilities for treartment of diseases like cancer, several diseases in eyes, et cetera.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Costaluz Lawyers.
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