sterile female rat gives birth to ovarian made 3D printer

female infertility is an issue that affects millions of women around the world.

To try to combat this problem, scientists at Northwestern University in the United States, looked at the technology of 3D printers.

The result is a good sign for the medicine in the coming years: A uterus prosthesis, zero printed, enabled infertile rats could have healthy babies.

The idea was to build a sort of scaffolding. Researchers have produced a gelatin structure with many points of support so that the cells could be shore.

The frame then was lined with ovarian follicles (spherical units with an egg in its most immature state, surrounded by hormonal cells that enable their development).

Thereafter, often implant structure in guinea pigs. According to the study, the dentures were able to create connections to the blood vessels that surround them; and guinea pigs - who had previously had their wombs removed - had their restored hormonal circles back to ovulate, and were able to give birth.

To work, the prosthetic needed a very accurate consistency. The structure could not be very rigid since eggs have to have free space to be developed in the area but would not work if it were too soft, since the new uterus would have to stay intact after surgery.

 The idea is that one day procedure has its parallel in human medicine, helping women who are born with disabilities in their ovaries, or just developing some kind of problem in life.

"One of the main concerns by patients diagnosed with cancer, is how treatment may affect the fertility and hormonal health," says Monica M. Laronda, responsible for the project.

"We are developing new ways to restore the quality of life of these women, when designing bioprosthesis" he says.