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Taking It Personally: 3D Bioprinting a Patient-Specific Cardiac Patch for the Treatment of Heart Failure
Niina Matthews1, Berto Pandolfo2, Daniel Moses3
1School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
Insights
3D bioprinting offers a promising solution for heart failure by creating patient-specific cardiac patches. Further research is needed to advance this innovative regenerative medicine approach from pre-clinical stages to human clinical trials.
Area of Science:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Biotechnology
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Heart failure is a leading global cause of death, with donor heart shortages limiting transplant options.
- 3D bioprinting of patient-specific cardiac patches presents a potential alternative treatment for heart failure.
- Current research is primarily pre-clinical, with limited clinical studies available.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review key elements in designing patient-specific cardiac patches for heart failure treatment.
- To provide recommendations for advancing 3D bioprinting of cardiac patches for clinical application.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on 3D bioprinting of cardiac patches.
- Analysis of biological design considerations for cardiac patches.
- Evaluation of 3D modeling techniques, including anatomical and motion data integration.
Main Results:
- Several studies have successfully created cardiac patches using 3D bioprinting technology.
- The field requires increased research to transition from animal models to human trials.
- Incorporating patient-specific anatomical and motion data is crucial for effective patch design.
Conclusions:
- 3D bioprinted patient-specific cardiac patches hold significant potential for treating heart failure.
- Advancements in biological design and 3D modeling are essential for clinical translation.
- Further research and clinical studies are necessary to validate this regenerative approach.
Abstract:
Despite a massive global preventative effort, heart failure remains the major cause of death globally. The number of patients requiring a heart transplant, the eventual last treatment option, far outnumbers the available donor hearts, leaving many to deteriorate or die on the transplant waiting list. Treating heart failure by transplanting a 3D bioprinted patient-specific cardiac patch to the infarcted region on the myocardium has been investigated as a potential future treatment. To date, several studies have created cardiac patches using 3D bioprinting; however, testing the concept is still at a pre-clinical stage. A handful of clinical studies have been conducted. However, moving from animal studies to human trials will require an increase in research in this area. This review covers key elements to the design of a patient-specific cardiac patch, divided into general areas of biological design and 3D modelling. It will make recommendations on incorporating anatomical considerations and high-definition motion data into the process of 3D-bioprinting a patient-specific cardiac patch.
