--- title: "Doctors Transplant Ear That Was 3D Printed With Patient’s Own Cells" description: "A team of scientists at the regenerative medicine company 3DBio Therapeutics have successfully implanted a 3D printed ear made from the patient's own cells." date: "2022-06-02" modified: "2022-06-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-transplant-ear-3d-printed-patients-own-cells" categories: - "3D Printing" - "Future Materials" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "3d printing" - "tissue regeneration" --- # Doctors Transplant Ear That Was 3D Printed With Patient’s Own Cells ![A team of scientists at the regenerative medicine company 3DBio Therapeutics have successfully implanted a 3D printed ear made from the patient's own cells.]() *\Image: 3DBio Therapeutics\* A team of scientists at a company called 3DBio Therapeutics have successfully transplanted a 3D printed ear made from the patient's own cells, [*The New York Times* reports](). It appears to be a first in the field of tissue engineering, according to experts, and could be the harbinger of a new era of regenerative medicine. "It’s definitely a big deal," Carnegie Mellon biomedical engineering researcher Adam Feinberg, who was not involved in the project, told the *NYT*. "It shows this technology is not an 'if' anymore, but a ‘when.'" The patient, a 20-year-old woman, was born with a small and malformed ear due to a rare congenital disorder called microtia. In a clinical trial earlier this year, experts 3D printed a new ear, designed to perfectly match her other one, and transplanted it onto her head. The ear will even continue to grow, the company says, generating new cartilage tissue. According to the *NYT*, the trial could mark the first time a 3D printed implant made of living tissues was successfully transplanted onto a human patient. The company used half a gram's worth of cells harvested from the patient and grew them into billions of cells using what it says is a proprietary technology. A special 3D printer then used "bio-ink" based on collagen to print the ear. "It comes in as a biopsy from the patient, and it leaves a living ear," 3DBio CEO Daniel Cohen told the *NYT*. Arturo Bonilla, the surgeon who performed the procedure, also came away impressed. "As a physician who has treated thousands of children with microtia from across the country and around the world, I am inspired by what this technology may mean for microtia patients and their families," he said in [a statement](). "This study will allow us to investigate the safety and aesthetic properties of this new procedure for ear reconstruction using the patient’s own cartilage cells," Bonilla added. Despite having undergone federal regulator reviews, the company has remained tightlipped about technical details. And results have yet to be published because the clinical trial, which involves 11 patients, is still running its course. 3DBio Therapeutics is now hoping to apply the same technique to other body parts, including spinal discs, noses, and rotator cuffs. Printing more complex body parts such as organs, however, presents a far greater challenge than the ear, which serves a purely cosmetic purpose. **READ MORE:** [Doctors Transplant 3-D Printed Ear Made of Human Cells]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on 3D printing:** *[China Says It's 3D Printing a 590-Foot Hydroelectric Dam With Zero Human Labor]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()