Researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital are taking a bold step into medical history: implanting 3D-printed living tissue into patients. This will be the first clinical trial of its kind anywhere in the world.
The study involves ten patients scheduled for abdominoplasty. During surgery, doctors will collect extra fat through liposuction, then process it and blend it with a specialized bioink. The mixture will be fed into a 3D printer to create tissue with a defined shape and firmness—then immediately implanted back into the same patient.
“It’s similar to traditional fat transplants, but with one critical difference,” says Lars Kölby, professor of plastic surgery at the University of Gothenburg. “Normally, transplanted fat is too soft and gradually absorbed by the body. With 3D printing, we control both shape and stiffness so it lasts.”
The bioink is made from the patient’s own fat combined with nanocellulose and alginate—materials already approved for medical use. The team has already tested the method successfully in animals. That, along with the fact that the implants come entirely from the patient’s own tissue, greatly reduces the risk compared to controversial synthetic implants of the past.
Kölby highlights another unusual aspect of the project: the collaboration itself. “Technologists and medical professionals rarely work this closely. That’s what makes it possible to take an idea from the lab and bring it directly into the operating room.”
In practical terms, the technology also saves time. Because the 3D printer can be set up in the operating room, there’s no need to transfer implants between facilities—a step that normally adds hours of bureaucracy and delays.
If successful, the trial could open the door to custom-designed tissue implants that are safer, longer-lasting, and made entirely from the patient’s own body.