MARCO’s “AETHER” Pronounced “Ether” Medicine & Radio in One Medium President: Mary Favaro, M.D., AE4BX Official Publication of the Medical Amateur Radio Council Past President: Linda Krasowski, RN, KE5BQK 78th Pres. Elect: Jeffrey Wolf, M.D., K6JW Secretary: Danny Centers, EC, W4DAN Edition Web Master: Bruce Small, M.D., KM2L Treasurer: Danny Centers EC, W4DAN 2000-2012 Radio-Internet: Chip Keister, M.D., N5RTF MediShare: Arnold Kalan, M.D., WB6OJB News Editor: Warren Brown, M.D., KD4GUA A non-profit Corporation, founded in 1965, privately supported for the public good and dedicated to the advancement of Medicine through Amateur Radio. Marco Blogsite: marco-Ltd.blogspot.com Web Site: http://www.marco-ltd.org “listserve”: http://googlegroups.com Internet address: [email protected] Vol. XXXVII, (37th year), Edition #78 since Year 2000), December 2012 P.O. Box 127, Indian Rocks Beach, FL., 33785- ‘DOCTOR, I WANT MY YOUNG FACE BACK!” 3-D FACE PRINTING IN THE FUTURE WILL ALLOW ONE TO EITHER REPLACE AN AGING FACE WITH THE My face doesn’t YOUNGER FACE MOLD MADE EARLIER OR BY REPLACING IT WITH A FACE FROM THE INTERNET— come cheap PERPETURAL YOUTH ? “Modern Meadow, Inc.” is already producing fake “meat.” Need an artery for bypass surgery or custom cartilage for that worn- out knee? Hit “PRINT.” It all began in Japan where Professor Nakamura found that droplets from inkjet printers were about the same size as human cells. He bought a home- use Seiko Epson printer in 2002 and tried to eject cells with it. But the inkjet nozzle got clogged. He rang up the company telling the operator that … I’m an Alpha he wanted to print cells, an idea that was politely turned down. Nakamura Female did not give up and eventually reached an Epson official who showed inter- est and agreed to give him technical support. In 2003, Nakamura confirmed that cells survived even after the printing process, becoming one of the first in the world to unveil a 3D structure with real living cells using inkjet tech- nology. In the future, Nakamura said the technology could pave the way LATE BREAKING NEWS for bio-printing with stem cells—which could go into building new organs. NOW HEAR THIS...Marco Medical Grand Rounds In about a dozen major university and corporate labs, biomedical engi- of the Air is in trouble. We need you to notify the FCC of neers are working on ways to print living human tissue, in the hope of one malicious interference with our Sunday net. Please read day producing personalized body parts and implants on demand. Still far PAGE FIVE and follow directions. from clinical use, these tissue-engineering experiments represent the next step in a process known as “bio-printing+, or computerized adaptive manu- facturing, in which industrial designers turn out custom prototypes and Aether recently reported a met analysis that indicated an increase in finished parts using inexpensive 3-D computer printers. Similar 3-D print- morbidity and mortality from those taking multivitamins. Now, a Pfizer ers are already exuding plastic, ceramics and powdered metal instead of ink study of it’s Centrum Silver reports an 8% reduction in risk of develop- in developing parts for Boeing airliners and Ford cars. ing cancer. A new study, the Physicians Health Study II now finds mul- Here’s how it works: First step involves taking a person's cells and tivitamins don’t cut risk of heart attack Take your pick! Perhaps these growing those cells in a culture. They are then incubated and once enough misanalysis were not standardized? Only the Shadow knows! cells are present, an enzyme is applied that releases them from the growing surface and they’re loaded into a pellet-like structure. One printer nozzle All MARCO membership dues are now payable in January. Please deposits drops of these cells, while a second nozzle deposits a hydrogel that check your mailing label for your status. Except for members that are acts as a mold to shape the tissue. The printer then builds up the cells and paid in advance as indicated on their label, all members are expected to the mold, layer by layer, creating the three-dimensional structure. After pay 2013 dues by January to remain in good standing. printing, the cells naturally knit themselves together to strengthen the tissue structure. The supporting hydrogel mold is then removed,, leaving a struc- Malpractice a profitable business...When you are interacting with a ture made solely of living tissue that is virtually identical to something re- patient, you still have the feeling about whether this is going to result in a moved from a human. These machines can build up tissue structures, layer law suit. That’s not a feeling doctors should have when taking care of by layer, into all sorts of 3-D shapes, such as tubes suitable for blood ves- patients. During the past five years, Florida malpractice insurance com- sels, contoured cartilage for joints, or patches of skin and muscle for living panies have netted about 40% profits nearly 10% higher than the national Band-Aids, average, 30.9%, while paying out 30% on patient claims. A no-fault plan At Cornell University researchers are printing experimental heart where physicians would refer injured patients to a not-for-profit non- valves, knee cartilage and bone implants. At Wake Forest University, bio- governmental agency composed of expert doctors who would review cases and determine the amount paid is proposed. The plan will keep the payment engineers are printing kidney cells. Their colleagues are working on a port- per injury about the same, while costs would go down, due to eliminating profits able unit to print healing tissue directly into burns or wounds. At the Uni- and defense costs. Sweden & New Zealand have been using this plan successfully versity of Missouri-Columbia, researchers have printed viable blood vessels for 25 years. (Information from “Florida Medical Business,” Nov. 2012.) Continued on Page Two WRITE TO US! MARCO NET SCHEDULE We welcome your com- DAY EASTERN FREQ. NET CONTROLS ments. Mail to Marco, Any Day On the Hour 14.307 Hailing Frequency P.O. Box 127, Indian Sunday 10:30 a.m. Eastern 14.140 CW Net, VE3OQM Rocks, FL, 33785. Email to Sunday 11 a.m. Eastern 14.307 Warren, KD4GUA [email protected] Letters may be edited for brevity & clarity. Page 2 MARCO Grand Rounds is held Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern Time; 10 a.m. Central; 9 a.m. Mountain, and 8 a.m. Pacific Coast time on 14.307. You qualify for one hour Category II CME credit with your check-in. ————————————————————————————————————————————————— and sheets of beating heart muscle. (For example: when the bioprinter was used to deposit chicken heart cells onto a dish, they started to beat This is a generalized 3-D printer which sells for synchronously. Given a high-detailed map of the cellular networks in a $1,200….used for Industry human heart, there are no fundamental barriers between going from use. this rudimentary bioprinter to one that prints out full human organs within a decade or two. ) Eventually, biomedical engineers hope to print out tailored tissues suitable for surgery and entire organs that could be used in transplants, to eliminate long delays for patients awaiting suitable donor organs and the risk their bodies may reject the tissue. A lot of biotech companies are sniffing around to see what the mar- ket value of all this might be. Leading the way is a closely held San Diego-based company called Organovo Inc, founded in 2007, which introduced the first commercial 3-D bioprinters in 2010. They are not for sale yet, but are kept for the company’s own product-development projects. It does share them with Pfizer, United Therapeutics Corp, and Harvard Medical School, among others. You might have heard of other mally than when they are cultured in a single isolated layer, as is cus- companies who are already in the 3D printing industry like Stratasys tomary in most labs test today. That means clusters of bio-printed cells (SSYS) or 3D Systems (DDD) but their ink is not human tissue. may be more realistic for pharmaceutical assays, testing of drugs, com- Once printing is complete, the tissue usually can support itself after pared with traditional lab culture and animal tests, which can often 24 hours. Then the gel mold can be removed. The tissue is kept alive produce medically misleading results. in a bioreactor bathed in nutrients. It takes another three weeks before In the long run, bioprinting is bound to generate ethical concerns, “If the tissue gains its full strength, as the cells build bonds between them- you were an athlete with improved knee cartilage, would you be dis- selves. qualified because you were bounciers? So far, bioprinting works best to make relatively simple cell struc- Modern Meadow, a company founded by Organovo founder Gabor tures a few hundred microns thick—the thickness of a few human Forgacs, has already developed what is called “NoKill Leather,” leather hairs—comprising about 20 layers of cells. Larger printed tissues such made from a bioprinter that made the ingredients for an artificial leather as cartilages often aren’t strong enough on their own to withstand nor- pocketbook. He has also produced a sliver of meat 2 cm x 1 cm x 1 mal wear and tear. More important, engineers say they haven’t yet mm thick which is edible—a potential boom to vegetarians and those mastered ways to print the microscopic networks of capillaries that with religious restrictions on meat consumption.