Inkjet Printing To Replace Organ Donation?

Earlier this week Printerinks.com News reported that OEM printer ink is more expensive than human blood.

We theorised two courses of economising to shocked consumers: (1) opt for a quality compatible ink cartridge or (2) simply print documents in their own blood. For many reasons, the first option struck us as preferable.

But now scientists may have legitimate cause for filling their cartridges with claret. According to a 22 October 2008 Cosmos Online post, Japanese scientist Makoto Nakamura is using inkjet printing technology in an attempt to “print” human organs.

In the same way that ink is used to print documents, Nakamura employs human cells – jetting out thousands per second to produce a 3D human organ.

The goal is to create alternative organs for patients languishing on donor lists. Speaking with Cosmos Online, Nakamura said: ‘Ultimately I would like to make a heart.’

Such organs could be mass produced using a patient’s cells – removing the possibility of rejection. Though Nakamura thinks it may take 20 years to “print” a heart, once the technology is workable it could eliminate organ shortages at a stroke.

According to the Japanese scientist, his organ printer works “like building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass.” To date, Nakamura’s micro-huge skyscraper organs have not exceeded one millimetre in diameter, and combine only two cell types.

Yet Nakamura’s printer is incredibly precise. It works by layering cells, capable of adjustments in the order of one thousandth of a millimetre. Though this may sound slow, the device creates 1.5cm worth of cells every minute.

And because ink particles are roughly the size of human cells, it’s based on a normal inkjet printer.

Nakamura was among the first to make this discovery, back in 2003. At the time, he placed a call with Epson customer services, telling the advisor that he wanted to print cells.

Though initially rebuffed, he eventually made contact with a sympathetic official at the company – which has given him technical support.