Cartilage, Bone and Ears: The First Bioprinted Implants in Humans
In 2022, a patient received a 3D-bioprinted ear made from her own cells. Here is what that milestone did and didn’t prove.
In June 2022, 3DBio Therapeutics announced that a patient born with microtia (an underdeveloped outer ear) had received AuriNovo, an ear implant 3D-bioprinted from her own cartilage cells. It was widely reported as the first living bioprinted implant in a clinical trial.
Why the ear came first
- Cartilage has no blood vessels, sidestepping the vascularization problem.
- The shape can be copied from the patient’s other ear with a 3D scan.
- It’s a relatively low-risk, external structure.
Other early clinical steps
Printed and engineered tissues for cartilage, bone and airway repair are in various stages of trials worldwide, and printed acellular implants (such as custom bone scaffolds and PEEK or titanium implants) are already in routine surgical use.
What it didn’t prove
Long-term durability, results across many patients, and scalability are still being studied. A single successful case is a start, not a finish line.
See the organs roadmap in The Kidney Question.
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