FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Spitz
(212) 523-4044
3-D “Printing” of the Human Trachea Moves the Needle on
Organ Transplant and Replacement
St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals doctors strive to help patients breathe easy
New York, NY (September 27, 2013) Imagine a patient going into the operating room on a ventilator and
coming out breathing without help from machines. Doctors at St. Luke‟s and Roosevelt Hospitals are one
step closer to making this happen. They‟ve created what is believed to be the world's first artificial
trachea made from silicone, using 3-D printing technology. The silicone trachea is comparable in
appearance and has the potential to function similarly to a human trachea.
Leading this potentially groundbreaking initiative is Faiz Bhora, MD, Director of Thoracic Surgical
Oncology and Thoracic Surgical Research, Co-Director of the Airway Program and Associate Program
Director of General Surgery at St. Luke‟s and Roosevelt Hospitals and Continuum Cancer Centers of
New York. Dr. Bhora and his team of physicians spent eight months designing an anatomically correct
silicone-based artificial tracheal structure. Silicone is a readily available, non-immunogenic material that
is FDA approved for many purposes, including prosthetic implants.
Dr. Bhora says he saw a clinical need to devise a solution for people with tracheal issues because, “at the
moment, there is no good cure for patients with large defects of the airway,” he says, adding,“the trachea
can only be resected and replaced for a short distance, given the organ‟s inherently small size.” Dr. Bhora
hopes this will be a life-enhancing choice for patients whose options are currently limited to tracheotomy
or palliative care until death.
This synthetic trachea was digitally crafted using the Fab@Home 3-D printer. The Ithaca, NY-based
company‟s product includes syringe tools that have a unique ability to create objects from multiple
materials including silicone. Dr. Bhora‟s team used the printer to „read‟ key data points from a patient‟s
chest CT scan and, within 24 hours, created a customized 3-D model - the “printed” silicone trachea –
which hardened to a semi-soft rubber model.
“The silicone-based model is fantastic proof of principle,” says Dr. Bhora. “The next step in our research
is to impregnate that model with stem cells derived from live animal materials. Our end goal is to create a
completely biologic trachea structure using a human patient‟s own stem cells, which would be ideal for
human transplant.”
Patients who would most benefit from artificial trachea transplant include children born with congenital
airway defects or anomalies and adults with tracheal malformations ranging from inhalation injuries
(burns) to malignancies in that area.
Dr. Bhora adds 3-D printing is tailored to patients‟ individual needs. He anticipates that an organ crafted
from a patient‟s own cells, will eliminate the need for immunosuppressive therapy and all of its side
effects which “has the potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine as we know it.”
Dr. Bhora and his team would be happy to talk further with members of the media about his research and
its potential benefit for thousands of patients with trachea-related disorders.
For more information and/or to request an image of the 3D trachea model, please contact [email protected] or at
(212) 523-4044.
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