Breakthrough in treating rare baby lung condition

ODN

Dr Stavros Loukogeorgakis at Great Ormond Street Hospital explains how researchers are using 3D printing to recreate the effects of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) on tiny lungs, giving new insights into the rare but often fatal condition.   Report by Etemadil. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00What you can see here is what we call a model.

00:03In order for us to try and treat the disease and treat the problem, we need to try and

00:08understand how it develops.

00:10So what we do in this laboratory, a combination of clinicians and basic scientists, we model.

00:15So what you see here is our setup for a mini lung that mimics what happens in congenital

00:21rheumatic hernia.

00:22So here on the left, as you can see in control, is a part of human lung that grows in a 3D

00:27printed environment, and you can see the 3D printed behind you.

00:31And we can mimic the squashing that happens in congenital rheumatic hernia by printing

00:37a special body around this that compresses the lung.

00:40And you can see here the difference in the growth in the compressed versus the control.

00:44So this has given us the opportunity to understand what is actually happening and what's missing

00:50from those lungs that become so sick when the baby is born.

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