cardiac stem cells

a team of korean researchers has developeda 3d-printed stem cell patch that could change the way doctors perform heart surgeries. kim hyesung sheds light on the discovery. heart disease is the leading cause of deathworldwide. the world health organization says over 8million people died from coronary artery disease in 2015 alone. fewer than half of patients who suffer a heartattack after receiving a heart surgery end up living longer than five years,... due tothe difficulty of regenerating damaged heart tissue.

but a new finding could provide a solution. korean researchers have developed a 3d printedstem cell patch that can enhance cardiac repair by generating new blood vessels and tissueswhen attached to the heart. scientists at the pohang university of scienceand technology, or postech, harvested myocardial and vascular stem cells, which they then combinedwith what they call biological ink, a gel made from a decellularized pig's heart. "it's crucial to extract the extracellularmatrix, leaving elements like protein but removing other pig cells to prevent it fromcausing disruption in the transplanted species' immune system."

the bioink mixture facilliates the fabricationof 3d-shaped structures by placing the incubated stem cells in dual-cell arrangements. after publishing the bioink concept in thejournal nature in 2014, the postech research team, with the help of seoul saint mary'shospital, successfully tested the technique on a mouse with myocardial disease. the 3-d printed patch integrated well withthe mouse's existing tissue. it reduced the hardness of certain fibroticareas affected by a lack of blood supply and created new blood vessels, helping its heartpump again. "i've conducted bioengeneering research forover two decades and this is a very encouraging

result. only one in ten patients can receive an ogranimplant, but 3d printing using our bioink shows that printed organs can be transplantedto an animal,... opening the possibility of transplanting the tissue in humans." having proved that the 3d printed stem cellpatch works, the team's next goal is to see if there are any side effects... to test whetherits safe to use in the long term. kim hyesung, arirang news.