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An artificial organ is a human-made organ device or tissue that is implanted or integrated into a humaninterfacing with living tissueto replace a natural organ, to duplicate or augment a specific function or functions so the patient may return to a normal life as soon as possible. (2026). 9781466601239, Medical Information Science Reference. ISBN 9781466601239 The replaced function does not have to be related to life support, but it often is. For example, replacement bones and joints, such as those found in , could also be considered artificial organs. (1984). 9780841208544, American Chemical Society. ISBN 9780841208544
Implied by definition, is that the device must not be continuously tethered to a stationary power supply or other stationary resources such as filters or chemical processing units. (Periodic rapid recharging of batteries, refilling of chemicals, and/or cleaning/replacing of filters would exclude a device from being called an artificial organ.) Thus, a Kidney dialysis machine, while a very successful and critically important life support device that almost completely replaces the duties of a kidney, is not an artificial organ.
The use of any artificial organ by humans is almost always preceded by extensive Animal testing. Initial testing in humans is frequently limited to those either already facing death or who have exhausted every other treatment possibility.
New advances in artificial limbs include additional levels of integration with the human body. Electrodes can be placed into nervous tissue, and the body can be trained to control the prosthesis. This technology has been used in both animals and humans. The prosthetic can be controlled by the brain using a direct implant or implant into various muscles.
, including deep brain stimulators, send electrical impulses to the brain in order to treat neurological and movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, treatment resistant depression, and other conditions such as urinary incontinence. Rather than replacing existing neural networks to restore function, these devices often serve by disrupting the output of existing malfunctioning nerve centers to eliminate symptoms.
Scientists in 2013 created a mini brain that developed key neurological components until the early gestational stages of fetal maturation.
In the case of an outer ear trauma, a craniofacial prosthesis may be necessary.
Thomas Cervantes and his colleagues, who are from Massachusetts General Hospital, built an artificial ear from sheep cartilage by a 3D printer. With a lot of calculations and models, they managed to build an ear shaped like a typical human one. Modeled by a plastic surgeon, they had to adjust several times so the artificial ear can have curves and lines just like a human ear. The researchers said "The technology is now under development for clinical trials, and thus we have scaled up and redesigned the prominent features of the scaffold to match the size of an adult human ear and to preserve the aesthetic appearance after implantation." Their artificial ears have not been announced as successful, but they are still currently developing the project. Each year, thousands of children were born with a congenital deformity called microtia, where the external ear does not fully develop. This could be a major step forward in medical and surgical microtia treatment.
Various researchers have demonstrated that the retina performs strategic image preprocessing for the brain. The problem of creating a completely functional artificial electronic eye is even more complex. Advances towards tackling the complexity of the artificial connection to the retina, optic nerve, or related brain areas, combined with ongoing advances in computer science, are expected to dramatically improve the performance of this technology.
Besides these, Organ culture and 3D bioprinted hearts are also being researched. Currently, scientists are limited in their ability to grow and print hearts due to difficulties in getting blood vessels and lab-made tissues to function cohesively.
, HepaLife is no longer active.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be used to take significant load off of the native lung tissue and heart. In ECMO, one or more catheters are placed into the patient and a pump is used to flow blood over hollow membrane fibers, which exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood. Similar to ECMO, Extracorporeal Removal (ECCO2R) has a similar set-up, but mainly benefits the patient through carbon dioxide removal, rather than oxygenation, with the goal of allowing the lungs to relax and heal. (2026). 9783805594721 ISBN 9783805594721
Reproductive age patients who develop cancer often receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which damages oocytes and leads to early menopause. An artificial human ovary has been developed at Brown University with self-assembled microtissues created using novel 3-D petri dish technology. In a study funded and conducted by the NIH in 2017, scientists were successful in printing 3-D ovaries and implanting them in sterile mice. In the future, scientists hope to replicate this in larger animals as well as humans. The artificial ovary will be used for the purpose of in vitro maturation of immature oocytes and the development of a system to study the effect of environmental toxins on folliculogenesis.
The first artificial RBC, made by Chang and Poznanski in 1968, was made to transport Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide, also fulfilled antioxidant functions.
Scientists are working on a new kind of artificial RBC, which is one-fiftieth the size of a human RBC. They are made from purified human hemoglobin proteins that have been coated with a synthetic polymer. Thanks to the special materials of the artificial RBC, they can capture oxygen when blood pH is high, and release oxygen when blood pH is low. The polymer coating also keeps the hemoglobin from reacting with nitric oxide in the bloodstream, thus preventing dangerous constriction of the blood vessels. Allan Doctor, MD, stated that the artificial RBC can be used by anyone, with any blood type because the coating is immune silent.
As of 2017, researchers at UCLA developed an artificial thymus that, although not yet implantable, is capable of performing all functions of a true thymus.
The artificial thymus would play an important role in the immune system, and it would use blood stem cells to produce more T cells, which in turn, help the body fight infections. It would ultimately give the body a better ability to fight cancer cells. As people age, if their thymus stops working well, an artificial thymus could also be a potentially viable option.
The idea of using T cells to fight against infections has been around for a time, but until recently, the idea of using a T cell source, an artificial thymus is proposed. "We know that the key to creating a consistent and safe supply of cancer-fighting T cells would be to control the process in a way that deactivates all T cell receptors in the transplanted cells, except for the cancer-fighting receptors," said Dr. Gay Crooks of UCLA. The scientist also found that the T cells produced by the artificial thymus carried a diverse range of T cell receptors and worked similarly to the T cells produced by a normal thymus. Since they can work like human thymus, artificial thymus can supply a consistent amount of T cells to the body for the patients who are in need of treatments.
As of 2017 engineering a tracheaa hollow tube lined with cellshad proved more challenging than originally thought; challenges include the difficult clinical situation of people who present as clinical candidates, who generally have been through multiple procedures already; creating an implant that can become fully developed and integrate with host while withstanding respiratory forces, as well as the rotational and longitudinal movement the trachea undergoes.
One area of success was achieved when Kevin Warwick carried out a series of experiments extending his nervous system over the internet to control a robotic hand and the first direct electronic communication between the nervous systems of two humans.
This might also include the existing practice of implanting Subcutis chips for identification and location purposes (ex. RFID tags).
This information can create various applications such as creating "human in vitro models" for both healthy and diseased organs, drug advancements in toxicity screening as well as replacing animal testing.
Using 3D cell culture techniques enables scientists to recreate the complex extracellular matrix, ECM, found in in vivo to mimic human response to drugs and human diseases.
Organs on chips are used to reduce the failure rate in new drug development; microengineering these allows for a microenvironment to be modeled as an organ.
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