In North Carolina, Dr. Anthony Atala from Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has spent decades trying to print human organs and has reached success, at least in rodents. Tests on humans are pending government approval, and if approved will likely commence next year. Atala created the Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing System, or ITOP, which is an 800 pound 3-D printer that prints millions of living human cells to create organs and human tissue.
But how does the tissue survive once implanted in the body? His team’s research on rodents found that two months after implantation, the printed human tissue had allowed blood vessels and nerves to grow within the tissue, fully integrating itself with the implant. The printer’s technology allows it to print the tissue with a latticework of tiny open channels (we are talking really tiny – about 200 microns each) that allow nutrients and things like blood vessels and nerves to develop and grow through it.