Researchers aim to build human hearts using 3-D printer

Tokyo: Researchers are attempting to build human hearts with a 3-D printer using the patients own cells that could be transplanted.

The team from the University of Louisville aims to first make a heart and then get it to work in a patient, however, the process will take several years before its put in a person, the Japan Times reported.

Stuart Williams, a cell biologist leading the project, said that they have printed human heart valves and small veins with cells, and will be constructing some other parts with other methods.

Williams added that it would take three to five years to print parts and assemble an entire heart, which would be called "bioficial heart" as it is a blend of natural and artificial.

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