Artificial Organs Like Liver, Kidney, Bones can be Made From Cotton Candy Machines?

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Cotton candy machines are one of kids' favorite implements as they are capable of producing sweet treats in a way that fascinates even the young at heart. Experts believe that the way these confectionery machines do their business can be utilized to possibly develop artificial organs, such as livers, kidneys and other essential organs of the human body.

Leon Bellan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, and his colleagues were able to successfully create a three-dimensional artificial capillary system that can hold functional living cells for a week out of the spinning method by the cotton candy machines, according to a EurekAlert! press release from the Vanderbilt University.

The capillaries or vessels inside the body form a network tasked to deliver the much-needed oxygen and nutrients to cells and transport wastes. These capillaries are essential in producing life-size artificial organs, and Bellan and his team are using the unconventional method to create fiber networks as a template for these capillary systems.

The findings of the experiment was published online on Feb. 4 at the Advanced Healthcare Materials journal. "Some people in the field think this approach is a little crazy. But now we've shown we can use this simple technique to make microfluidic networks that mimic the three-dimensional capillary system in the human body in a cell-friendly fashion," said Bellan.

He also added that the current methods used today were having a hard time creating two-dimensional networks, but through the use of this new technique, they are now more capable of creating three-dimensional systems.

Hydrogels are used by Bellan, just like many other tissue engineering researchers, in order create a support for the cells inside three-dimensional artificial organs.

These water-based gels are utilized because they allow the diffusion and movement of molecules like those essential soluble compounds, notes Forbes. The problem is that these cells can only travel at a limited distance through these gels. And, because of this, the cells must be kept close together, no more than the width of a human hair, for them to survive. These cells need a close source for nutrition and waste excretion.

And the challenge for the tissue engineering researchers is to create a specialized network of capillaries where fluids in the form of nutrients and oxygen can flow through and wastes can also be removed.

After taking successfully taking this important step, Bellan and his team will now be working on improving the method to make these small vessel networks compatible with different types of tissues, and test out other types of cells.

"Our goal is to create a basic 'toolbox' that will allow other researchers to use this simple, low-cost approach to create the artificial vasculature needed to sustain artificial livers, kidneys, bone and other organs," Bellan also added.