Keith Murphy, CEO of Organovo, stated that his company will be able to 3D print partial organs within the next 4-6 years. These partial organs could be used to repair damaged organs, such as the liver, providing valuable time to patients as they await a full transplant.

ElectroMaterials researcher Cathal O'Connell believes that while hollow organs, such as the bladder, were printed a decade ago, printing ‘solid organs’, such as the kidney or the liver, are still probably a couple of decades into the future.

Surgeons in St. Thomas NHS copied live prostate to practice removal of cancerous gland while sparing the nerves. It is a historical breakthrough as copy of organ was used to practice the original surgery right before.

Researchers at UTSA are planning to start printing organs by next year. Dr. Guda expresses how regenerating bones and muscle tissues would no longer be a dream in world of medical bioprinting, cutting off the donor's list criteria on large scale.

Researchers team led by Dr. Monica stated at Boston Endocrine's Society-"we developed this implant with downstream human applications in mind" after the successful performance review of 3D printed ovaries in mice. The researchers had already planned to deliver this promising hope to women who can't have babies.

Researchers at UPCI and CMU are planning to use 3D printed models for studying breast pre-cancerous disease. This will aid in avoiding over-diagnosis and over-treatment of the tumor by creating 3d bioprinted breast ductal structure.

Researchers at Drexel university of Philadelphia and Tsinghua University of Beijing are claiming that using embryonic stem cells combined with hydrogel scaffolds, they can finally print micro-organs. These micro-organs can be anything from brain tissue, heart cells or bone.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore,California , have successfully 3D printed live blood vessels from cells and organic material. These vessels are capable of self-assembling and delivering nutrients, but are being worked on for further organization before they can be used in real transplants.

Children born with ear deformities can now receive prosthetic ears that come with Hearing aids fitted. This silicone made 3D ear will be fitted within few hours. Researchers at Queensland are already working on stage two of cosmetics and will be available within 2 years as they received funding from national government.

A 54 year old Australian patient of cancer received Titanium rib cage and sternum after considering the option better than plate implants. CSIRO, the federal government agency for scientific research in Australia, claimed their 3D printed titanium model was perfect for identically mimicking the intricate structures of the sternum and ribs and the patient was discharged healthy and recovered well.

3D printing may appear fantasy, but it's applications are far real than imagined. Nevertheless, with expanding future, it has already began to bring new lives to people. These 6 purely fascinating events including cranium, vertebra, rib cage, nose, airway and a new arm were some of the landmarks for 3D printing emerging as marvels of technology.

This was the first time a child received an adult kidney transplant, thanks to 3D Printing technology. Surgeons at London's Guy and St.Thomas hospital used 3D printed models of abdomen of Lucy, 3 year old receiver, and kidney of Lucy's father aged 35 years. Looking at the models, they knew how to minimise the risk of surgery and what was exactly going to happen, with both having perfect recovery now.

Sweden Team led by Paul Gatenholm at the Wallenberg Wood Science Center has discovered scaffolds to regenerate Cartilages using 3D printed technology. These 3D printed chondrocytes when implanted in living mice, resulted in cartilage production. The team is currently working to explore it's use in human clinical trials.

Researchers at Rice University and University of Pennsylvania have developed a 3D Printed Implant with an intricate network of blood vessels using sugar and silicone. This implant will deliver oxygen and nutrients to all cells in an artificial organ or tissue implant and thereby, helping them grow despite body liability to supply them.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed 3D printed Gel made of acrylic acid polymer. This Gel will acts as a scaffold to hold the structure in place during the printing process, thereby, establishing the future of 3D Printed Organs.

Scientists are now working with Computer simulation and 3D Printing to develop faster and safer ways of testing medical devices without actually installing them in live humans. Since these medical devices for heart and vascular diseases will be tested on 3D Printed models, the long list of Animal testing, Clinical trials and FDA approval will be surpassed.

Scientists at University of California, San Diego, have successfully 3D Printed Human Liver model, almost resembling human liver with its hexagonal structure. With combination of liver cells and supporting cells, this model can help pharmaceutical companies to develop better treatment plans.

Scaffolds offer ways to repair damaged tissues and can allow tissue and cartilages to regrow. With Inkjet 3DP and SLS being the commonly used powder-based tools in biomedical engineering applications, recent advances in mass manufacturing are expected to have an impact on fabricate tissues and biological scaffolds. A study published by the National Institute for Materials Science does highlight the significance of this task.

With successful launch of it's product exVive3D™ Human Liver Tissue in November 2014, Organovo Holdings company has started to extend its feet in the market of 3D Printing. With Skin tissue agreement with L'Oreal and the bio-ink deal with Merck, company is looking forward for further research developments in the upcoming months as stated in the recent conference.

Researchers at Denver University are currently working with a 3D bioprinter called BioBots after forming a partnership with Denver’s 3D Printing Store. This will allow them to create made-to-order replicas of organs, tissues and other parts, while they have already started printing custom replicas of heart valves using patients’ MRIs and CT scans.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have been harnessing cotton candy machines to spin out threads similar in size, density and complexity to the patterns formed by biocapillaries. Already announced that they have succeeded in using this unorthodox technique to produce a 3D artificial capillary system, they are working on fiber networks that can be used as templates to produce the capillary systems required to create full-scale artificial organs.

Surgeons in Sawai Man Singh hospital jaipur, india are now using 3D Printing Technology for removing gall bladder with cholelithiasis disease (Gall stones) and have conducted 22 successful surgeries so far within the last month. Doctors believe 3D Printing is better since the dual cameras in 3D technique provide 360 degree images, while with 2D Printing, they were only able to get 30 to 45 degrees angles and the surgeons have to rotate it while conducting the surgeries. Also, it reduced the time of surgery to 20-25 minutes.

From 3D Printed Prosthetics, Super-Healing Casts, Hairs, Skin and 3D Printed Micro-Lens for surgery to Implants of almost every body part, 3D Printing is helping in medical field making everything possible for the miserable lives of patients. But what is the future of 3D Printing? One day we will be able to 3D Print entire human body from simple DNA, as some researchers have already started to work on 3D Printing Real Organs for transplants in human bodies.

The Four Universities are working their own way to develop 3D Printing for medical uses and these include Indiana University-layering by applying a viscous bio-ink; Wake Forest University- Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing System (ITOP), which deposits biodegradables to form the tissue's shape, and water-based gels that contain the cells; Pennsylvania State University- artificial cartilage produced by the team is very similar to native cow cartilage and lastly, Advanced Solutions Life Sciences working with capillary beds, which they can flow blood through in the lab.

The relationship between Medicine and 3D printing market is expected to rise, and cross the $3.89 billion mark by 2022. To these, achievements like the launch of 3D printed organs, which will cause a rapid decrease in the testing of new drugs, and medicine on animals, are constantly adding to the potential of 3D Printing. 3D printers can create specifically designed medicine with accurate dosage size, color and delivery modes which are patient orientated and improve patient care.

French-based Biomodex has set a goal to use regular additive manufacturing to create ultra-realistic organ replicas to help train surgeons. Another application Biomodex is using its technology for is education: Medical schools can use the 3D printed plastic “organs” instead of cadavers to make it easier to teach classes on specific pathologies. The main aim of Biomodex, however, is to take regular medical data from MRIs and ultrasounds and transform it into detailed 3D-printable models using proprietary algorithms.

Odile Fillod, a researcher, with help of Melissa Richard, mediator of the Carrefoure Numérique Fab Lab at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, who took to Blender to create a 3D model of an Clitoris for Sex Education in France. The 3D Model was it was printed in PLA on a Mondrian 3D printer, and the open source file has been made available. Also, Fillod has been working with V’idéaux, a Toulouse-based documentary film production company, to create a Ministry of Education-supported website for the cause where a video about clitoris will be included in January 2017.

A 53-year old patient was admitted to Bangalore's Health Care Global Hospital complaining of mouth ulcer, which was later diagnosed as Tongue cancer using the MRI scan. Surgical oncologist Dr. Vishal Rao and his team with Anatomiz3D used the MRI scan to create a 3D Model of patient's tongue which enabled them to digitally separate the tumor from the tongue and perform the surgery.

3D Bioprinting is being used in laboratories to produce hearts, livers, kidneys, etc. and no doubt, will be printed in reality for organ transplantation in real patients. But this on the other side, has increased the risk of black market and the ways bad guys will be utilizing these 3D Printed Organs. Since these organs will be available for normal people easily, criminals will find ways to make it not so.

The Institute for Development of Advanced Applied Systems (IRNAS), located in Slovenia, operates Symbiolab, an open source-based biolab that focuses on the development of future-proof 3D biofabrication. The company developed Vitaprint, an open source platform which has now been used by IRNAS to fabricate 3D Printed Blood Vessels into a human earlobe using the freeform perfusable vessel and channel systems into bio-compatible hydrogels.

Researchers at the University of Wollongong have developed a new 3D bioprinter called the Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation (PICT) 3D Printer which can provide a newer treatment to patients of sever Type 1 Diabetes. The Bioprinter, developed by ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) and ANFF Materials, is capable of delivering insulin-producing islet cells from a protective bioink into a 3D printed scaffold that can be transplanted and prevent rejection risks.

A team of researchers in tissue engineering, 3D biofabrication, biomaterials design and stem cell differentiation at Harvard’s Wyss Institute is working on 3D Printing a Functioning Kidney Subunit with current work to build branched vascular network unique to each organ. Using advanced 3D Bioprinting from Wyss Institute, Dr. Jennifer Lewis’s organ-on-chips are ready, using special polymer inks for creation of structures made up of human cells, complete with vasculatures and extracellular matrices.

An international research team collaborated to 3D Print Simple Liver Model using bioprinted tissue to develop a more accurate drug toxicity testing system. The new advancement can construct vascularized tissue, which is then able to mimic drug administration in vivo in 3D bioprinted liver tissue. This new model will allow scientists to observe the in vivo effects of drug absorption without having to actually set up a real in vivo study.

During the recent project, where researchers from Northwestern University were implanting a 3D Printed Working Ovary in mouse, Adam Jakus, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Ramille Shah’s lab, was preparing 3D printing ink made from ovarian cells which he accidentally spilled, ultimately leading to discovery of “Tissue Paper”. This “Tissue Paper” can be used to restore normal hormone function to young cancer patients and restored fertility to women. Research team is planning to use it to repair organs and bioactive Band-Aid that would facilitate the healing of a wound.

A group of researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a new method of bioprinting that involves self-contained, self-supporting cells using a droplet-based 3D bioprinter. Researchers were able to successfully 3D printed human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and ovine mesenchymal stem cells (oMSCs) at a high droplet resolution of one nL. The ability to 3D print with adult stem cells is believed to have a greater impact on regenerative medicine globally.

Researchers at Biomedical Research Institute of La Paz Hospital (IdiPAZ) in Spain are working to 3D print cornea substitutes, using a patient’s own stem cells and thereby reduce the huge global demand of over 10 million people to donate corneas. The project called ‘Cornal stroma fabrication’ will include use of steam cells from patients to be used for 3D printing the custom corneas and using tissue engineering to regenerate different layers of the cornea for Corneal Transplant.

A team of 3D Printing experts at New York University (NYU) have started creating 3D Printed Masks for Facial Transplants Donors using accurate 3D Printing and Acrylic material. Since it is a tough decision to give up the face of deceased by family members, this 3D Printed Mask will encourage more people to agree to donate the faces of their dying family members for transplant purposes. Using Handheld Scanner to scan donor’s face, and then sending files to large 3D Printer, the final product is made using acrylic-based photopolymer.

Researchers from Imperial College London (ICL) have developed new 3D Printing Technique to create biological replicas for tissue regeneration. In collaboration with Kings College London, they experimented with 3D Printing and Cryogenics using solid Carbon Dioxide (dry ice) to quickly cool down hydrogel ink and Ultimaker 3D Printer. Once the ink softens, it forms a gel as soft as human tissue, which was then seeded with Dermal Fibroblasts with success.

Pauline Fenton, a 22-year-old mother from Belfast was living with end-stage kidney disease, and was completely reliant on dialysis until her 45 year old father; William volunteered to donate one of his kidneys. William had a potentially cancerous cyst on the kidney he was going to donate which was successfully removed using axial3D printed model of his kidney, and the transplant took place successfully.

Luke Massella was born with Spina Bifida, a medical condition that causes gap in spine, which required multiple surgeries to be able to walk. However, he faced bladder malfunction and kidney failure, for which Dr. Anthony Atala of Boston Children’s Hospital developed 3D Printed Bladder using Massella’s bladder tissue and modified 3D inkjet machines. The 14 hour surgery of transplantation of 3D Bioprinted Urinary Bladder was successful saving the now 27 year old Massella.

A research team at American Association of Physicists in Medicine recently published an article revealing how effective 3D Printing is for producing Organ Phantoms (models of organs to test things like proper medication dosage). Three questions were explored including the resolution of 3D Printing, materials used against scanning modality and feasibility of radioactive solutions as per 3D Printing is concerned. 50 studies conducted later concluded that 3D Printing undoubtedly has some limits, but is the fastest growing and can be definitely considered the best approach for Organ Phantoms as the new materials are unveiled.

Biomedical engineer Dr. Joseph Potkay is working with high-resolution 3D Printing company Old World Labs on a research funded by the VA (Veteran Affairs), to create a prototype of the 3D printed artificial lung, which will be about a half-inch cube in size, hopefully able to fit in a backpack and be used for a week. It will be the first truly wearable artificial lung that’s compatible with living tissue and can provide both short- and long-term respiratory support, and microfluidic artificial lungs. The device has been tested in rabbits, with sheep testing planned for the future.

Once a person suffers myocardial infarction or heart attack in local language, some part of heart is destroyed permanently at cellular level which cannot recover or regenerate. However, scientists have developed 3D printed cardiac patches that can be used to repair hearts damaged by heart attacks, but only about five have been produced worldwide. A group of researchers 3D printed a world-first stretchable microfiber scaffold with a hexagonal design to which added specialized stem cells called iPS-Cardiomyocytes, which began to contract unstimulated on the scaffold. The work has been demonstrated on the actual hearts of pigs and being planned for human trials.

A team of researchers based at the University of Utah worked on unmet clinical needs of 3D Printing and explained the needs in terms of structural support for skeletal and tubular organs, novel drug delivery strategies, organ-on-a-chip platform and finally, multimaterial 3D printing, which can help speed up the creation of bioelectronic constructs to impart active functionalities to an otherwise passive construct. Through the research, they addressed how 3D Printing Potential can be explored furthermore to increase compliance and comfort in terms of human satisfaction.

ETH Zurich researchers are working on using 3D Printing Technology to create Magnets that can be used in Rotary Blood Pumps, which are the only option for patients suffering from end-stage heart failure. The traditionally available pumps tend to have the side effects of hemolysis and thrombus formation, therefore they created a filament made from thermoplastic combined with isotropic NdFeB powder, which was then used to 3D print a prototype of a turbodynamic pump with integrated magnets in the impeller and housing. The pump was 3D printed in one piece on a low-cost, consumer-level 3D printer (a Prusa i3 MK2 with a multi-material upgrade, to be exact), then the magnetic components were fully magnetized in a pulsed Bitter coil, added with MagFil, the 3D Printed Magnets, and whole process took 15 hours.

A team of engineers and medical researchers from the University of Minnesota (UMN) are working on creating Neural Scaffold that can help patients with spinal cord injury alleviate pain and gain control over functions like bladder, bowel, and muscle control again. The prototype contains 3D Printed Silicone Guide acts as a scaffold, over which neuronal stem cells are 3D Printed, which then later differentiate into neurons, and then it is implanted into the injured part of spinal cord.

CollPlant and United Therapeutics Corporation have recently announced their licensing, development, and commercialization agreement for 3D Bioprinted Lung Transplants. Combining United Therapeutics’ organ manufacturing and regenerative medicine capabilities through Lung Biotechnology PBC with CollPlant’s BioInk and proprietary recombinant human collagen (rhCollagen) technology, CollPlant will receive an initial upfront payment of $5 million to kick start the project.

Canadian Researchers used 3D Printing to create Organ Models or Mannequin, called CASMER, which featured both 3D printing of almost all the organ shells, along with added packing material to flesh out the anatomy correctly. This involved four techniques: Realistic 3D printing of abdominal organs, Material-based moulding of the pancreas, Beeswax sculpting of abdominal fat and Off-the-shelf parts for the skeleton and outer shell. Muscle was made from Clear Flex® urethane rubber (Smooth-ON, PA), while fat was created from modelling beeswax. Rostock Max V2 3D printer was used, with source image data converted via segmentation software, as well as open-sourced Slicer.