Researchers 3D print a functioning human heart

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have 3D printed a functioning centimetre-scale human heart within the lab.

To achieve this, the researchers used a different approach, suggested by two Ph.D. students, Molly Kupfer and Wei-Han Lin.

“At first, we tried 3D printing cardiomyocytes, and we failed, too. So, with our team's expertise in stem cell research and 3D printing, we decided to try a new approach. We optimised the specialised ink made from extracellular matrix proteins, combined the ink with human stem cells, and used the ink-plus-cells to 3D print the chambered structure. The stem cells were expanded to high cell densities in the structure first, and then we differentiated them to the heart muscle cells", said Brenda Ogle, lead researcher on the study.

The research is published in the American Heart Association’s publication titled, Circulation Research.