Now You Can Make A Liver In A 3D Printer

The liver is essentially the body's toxins filter. It's why getting any sort of liver problem is seriously bad news; if the toxins start backing up, well, that's not usually good for the rest of your body. Oh, and a replacement is hard to find, as a rule. But what if you could just... print one out?

The Liver, But Better

Some scientists at the University of California, San Diego, claim they've done just that. It works on the process of using nanoparticles to purify blood. Nanoparticles are promising as a method of neutralizing toxins in the body, the problem being that the body doesn't particularly like nanoparticles and that may trigger a toxicity reaction themselves.

Which is where the 3D printed 'liver' comes in.

Porous Poison Grabber

Essentially, this liver substitute has the same nanoparticles, but inside a lattice made of hydrogel. As the blood flows through the lattice, the poisons work themselves into the pores of the hydrogel, where they're neutralized by the nanoparticles. As a nice bonus, as the filter fills up with neutralized toxins, it turns red, telling doctors when it might be time to yank and replace. The particles stay out of the blood, thus avoiding secondary poisoning, and the patient doesn't die horribly. Everybody wins! Well, at least until you have to swap out your 3D-printed liver with a new one.

A Step Forward

It's going to be a while before you see this used to treat patients: It's still in the testing stage and will need to go through FDA approval. It's also just a stop-gap measure for now; eventually, the nanoparticles lose effectiveness and the 'liver' will have to be replaced. But this has the ability to save thousands of lives, and honestly, for patients struggling with liver problems, swapping in a new filter a few times sure beats the alternative.