Israeli researchers said they have printed the world’s first 3D heart with blood vessels, describing it as a major breakthrough in engineering replacements for diseased organs.
At this stage, scientists printed pink and blue 3D rabbit-size hearts, but Professor Tal Dvir of Tel Aviv University, who led the research for the study said that “larger human hearts require the same technology.”
The Israeli team’s findings were published on Monday in Advanced Science, a peer-reviewed, open access journal.
It takes about three hours to 3D print a heart, but Dvir said that the hearts themselves require further development as the cells need to form a pumping ability.
The hearts can currently contract, but still need to learn how to “behave like hearts,” Dvir said, adding that he hopes to succeed and prove his method’s efficacy and usefulness.