In the United States alone, 80 patients every day receive life-saving organs from transplants. Unfortunately, the demand for transplant organs is higher than what can be provided by donors. According to the National Institute of Health in early 2011, more than 110,00 patients were on a nationwide waiting list to receive an organ as a result of organ shortages (NIH para. 4). It is estimated that, on average, twenty two patients die each day due to complications that arise while waiting for a new organ (United “At a Glance”). Sadly, getting an organ is only half of the battle; the human immune system is programmed to attack all foreign bodies. This makes it problematic for patients who receive organ transplants to recover from the surgery and
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Unfortunately, the current method of organ transplants has become inefficient due to high demand. As of December 2016, 119,592 patients were on an organ transplant lists, and from January to October 2016, 27,605 transplants were performed while only 13,066 donors were available during the same time frame (US “At a Glance”). The U.S Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a new patient is added to a national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes (US “At a Glance”). Recently, patients have been clocked down to the second of being admitted to waiting lists to insure fairness for the donations. In order for a patient to receive the specific organ that he or she needs, the patient must have the same blood type, organ size, and a degree of genetic match between immune-systems with the donor (United States para. 7). The geographical distance between the donor and patient, rank of the patient on the waiting list, and whether the patient is a child or an adult determine if a patient receives a specific organ. On December 23, 1954 the medical field witnessed its first successful organ transplant, and 62 years later, the field continues to use the same transplant techniques. With advances in the medical field and with medical technologies the current organ transplant system has become …show more content…
NASA’s High Quality Tissue Formating Methods were originally designed to be used by researchers in the medical and pharmaceutical fields (NASA para. 1). The patent provided by NASA describes technology that uses high-density spot seeding to 2D and 3D print tissues. The production of tissues using NASA’s technology can be achieved in four simple steps. In the first step, called “spot seeding”, specific cells are placed in specific concentrations in a petri dishes without the need for any external matrix components (NASA 4). The cells must then undergo a brief incubation period, allowing the cells to mature (NASA 4). The culture is rinsed, removing all unattached cells and a growth medium is applied to the dish. The final step, provided in the patent, requires the “periphery of the spot to proliferate [allowing for differentiation] outward from the center cell” ( NASA para 4). From this, it is proposed that scientists can attach 2D layer upon 2D layer resulting in a 3D tissue. If this technology is utilized to create organs for transplant patients, it would cut down immensely on waiting time, allowing more patients to be placed with an organ. By individually printing tissues to make organs, the process would subsequently save lives by creating almost perfectly matching organs. In using the patient's stem cells to grow organs, the chance of rejection from the body is
Unfortunately, the current method of organ transplants has become inefficient due to high demand. As of December 2016, 119,592 patients were on an organ transplant lists, and from January to October 2016, 27,605 transplants were performed while only 13,066 donors were available during the same time frame (US “At a Glance”). The U.S Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a new patient is added to a national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes (US “At a Glance”). Recently, patients have been clocked down to the second of being admitted to waiting lists to insure fairness for the donations. In order for a patient to receive the specific organ that he or she needs, the patient must have the same blood type, organ size, and a degree of genetic match between immune-systems with the donor (United States para. 7). The geographical distance between the donor and patient, rank of the patient on the waiting list, and whether the patient is a child or an adult determine if a patient receives a specific organ. On December 23, 1954 the medical field witnessed its first successful organ transplant, and 62 years later, the field continues to use the same transplant techniques. With advances in the medical field and with medical technologies the current organ transplant system has become …show more content…
NASA’s High Quality Tissue Formating Methods were originally designed to be used by researchers in the medical and pharmaceutical fields (NASA para. 1). The patent provided by NASA describes technology that uses high-density spot seeding to 2D and 3D print tissues. The production of tissues using NASA’s technology can be achieved in four simple steps. In the first step, called “spot seeding”, specific cells are placed in specific concentrations in a petri dishes without the need for any external matrix components (NASA 4). The cells must then undergo a brief incubation period, allowing the cells to mature (NASA 4). The culture is rinsed, removing all unattached cells and a growth medium is applied to the dish. The final step, provided in the patent, requires the “periphery of the spot to proliferate [allowing for differentiation] outward from the center cell” ( NASA para 4). From this, it is proposed that scientists can attach 2D layer upon 2D layer resulting in a 3D tissue. If this technology is utilized to create organs for transplant patients, it would cut down immensely on waiting time, allowing more patients to be placed with an organ. By individually printing tissues to make organs, the process would subsequently save lives by creating almost perfectly matching organs. In using the patient's stem cells to grow organs, the chance of rejection from the body is