--- title: "Researchers 3D Print Functional Components of Human Heart" description: "A team of researchers just 3D printed functional components of the human heart using a specialized printer that's capable of printing suspended hydrogels." date: "2019-08-02" modified: "2019-08-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/researchers-3d-printed-functional-components-human-heart" categories: - "3D Printing" - "Future Materials" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "3d printed" - "3d printing" - "3d printing tissues" - "the digest" --- # Researchers 3D Print Functional Components of Human Heart ![A team of researchers just 3D printed functional components of the human heart using a specialized printer that's capable of printing suspended hydrogels.]() *\Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Printing Hearts A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University just 3D printed functional components of the human heart — including small blood vessels and large beating ventricles. "We now have the ability to build constructs that recapitulate key structural, mechanical, and biological properties of native tissues," said Adam Feinberg, a professor at Carnegie Mellon and the co-founder of 3D printing company FluidForm, which built the tech the team used, in [a statement](). ## Lub Dub Printing tissues capable of functioning like the real thing is particularly challenging. Complex shapes have to be supported as they're being printed or otherwise they begin to sag. The team solved this issue, according to [a paper]() published in the journal *Science* today, by printing scaffolds from a temporary support gel. But the printed components have yet to make their way into a living body. While the researchers "accurately reproduced patient-specific anatomical structure" that they say can contract and expand like the real anatomical parts of the heart, it's more of a proof-of-concept for now. **READ MORE:** [FRESH 3D printing used to rebuild functional components of human heart]() \[Carnegie Mellon University\] **More on 3D printing tissue:** *[New Video Shows 3D Printed Lung “Breathing”]()* ## 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]() ## More - [Researchers Create First Ever 3D-Printed Heart Using Human Tissue]() - [Doctors Transplant Ear That Was 3D Printed With Patient’s Own Cells]() - [Scientists 3D Print Functional Human Brain Tissue]() - [This Biotech Company Claims to Have 3D Printed a Mini Human Heart]() - [Here’s Why NASA Wants to 3D Print Human Hearts in Space]() - [The First 3D Bioprinter That Can Print Body Parts for Large Scale Human Implantation]() - [So Long, Animal Testing? Researchers 3D Print the First Heart-On-A-Chip]() - [Scientists Have Developed a New Method to 3D-Print Living Tissue]()