Synthetic Windpipe Is Used to Replace Cancerous One

[Ringel05]

Surgeons in Sweden have replaced the cancerous windpipe of a Maryland man with one made in a laboratory and seeded with the man’s cells.
The windpipe, or trachea, made from minuscule plastic fibers and covered in stem cells taken from the man’s bone marrow, was implanted in November. The patient, Christopher Lyles, 30, whose tracheal cancer had progressed to the point where it was considered inoperable, arrived home in Baltimore on Wednesday. It was the second procedure of its kind and the first for an American.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/health/research/surgeons-transplant-synthetic-trachea-in-baltimore-man.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

 

[Montrovant]

The more pieces they are able to replace with man-made creations, the more I hope to see sci-fi type cyborgs in my lifetime!

 

[waltky]

Trachea grown from stem cells...

Toddler youngest in world to get lab-made windpipe
30 Apr.`13 — A 2-year-old born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells.

She's the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment.

Hannah Warren had been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in 2010 in South Korea. Until the operation three weeks ago in Peoria, Ill., she had spent her entire life in a hospital in Seoul. Doctors there told her parents there was no hope and they expected her to die.

Doctors in Illinois announced Tuesday that the little girl is recovering and will likely lead a normal life.

Toddler youngest in world to get lab-made windpipe