Chennai: A groundbreaking research technique to grow ear cartilage cells in a laboratory by a group of doctors and scientists has yielded results in the city. Members involved in the collaborative project between SIMS Hospital and SRM University on Tuesday displayed an ear they claimed to have grown in a lab.
For the past three years, doctors have been growing ear cartilage cells in a culture flask using latest 3D printing technology. Recent animal experiments showed that the cells continued to grow when they were implanted in rabbits.
“A large-scale animal study would be done before giving this to a child with a birth defect. It may take about a year and a half,” said SIMS Hospital medical director Dr K. Sridhar, a senior plastic surgeon.
Explaining the method they used, he said, “Cartilage cells have been removed from rabbits and further grown in a special solution for three weeks. After the cells expanded, they were seeded onto a biodegradable and biocompatible scaffold that is 3D printed in the form of ears. When there are an adequate number of cells, we implanted it under the skin in rabbit’s abdomen.”
When the scaffold was taken out a week ago, they found that the cartilage cells grew inside the rabbit. Nothing abnormal was noticed from the samples.
Following this, the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) gave permission to scientists to carry out the experiments in 18 more rabbits.
The doctors said they would now test the exact number of days required to grow the cells in the lab and the body, whether the solution can be standardised, mechanically test the strength and breakage of the cartilage. It may be noted that a week ago, a group of scientists in China announced that they had grown new ears for five children born with a defect in one of their ears.
