Artificial human ear grown in lab

US scientists say they have moved a step closer to being able to grow a complete human ear from a patient's cells.

In a new development in tissue engineering, they have grown a human-like ear from animal tissue.

The ear has the flexibility of a real ear, say researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The technique may one day be used to help people with missing or deformed outer ears, they believe.
Titanium scaffold

The cells were grown on a titanium wire scaffold that is modelled on the dimensions of a real human ear, taken from CT scans.

The new work shows that in theory it is possible to grow up enough cells - at least in animals - to make a full-size human ear.

"In a clinical model, what we would do is harvest a small sample of cartilage, that the patient has, and then expand that so we could go ahead and do the same process," said Dr Cervantes.

"This research is a significant step forward in preparing the tissue-engineered ear for human clinical trials."

He said he expected that the process could move into human clinical trials in about five years.

Other research into bioengineered organs is progressing fast.

About a dozen patients have received transplants of artificial wind pipes coated with stem cells taken from either the patient or a donor.

Meanwhile, a kidney grown in the laboratory has been transplanted into a rat, where it started to produce urine.


Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23508688