After US, Sweden and France, India is lokking at unconventional substitutes to organ transfer.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi has created scaffolds on which stem cells can be grown into tissues, which then develop into a whole organ that can then be used for transplantation.

IIT in collaboration with AIIMS and PGI Chandigarh is trying to develop a life support system for patients with congenital anomalies. The project is being funded by the government of India.

Professor Bhuvanesh Gupta from the bioengineering group, textile department at the institute said, "There will be no need to look for a donor and a recipient as a new organ can be developed on the scaffolds using the patient's own cells.”

"The technology uses a bio-degradable polymer to create a mould for the organ that needs to be transplanted. In case of organs that expand  and contract, like the bladder, the polymer is knitted to form the mould. For tubular structures like a blood vessel, it is braided," Gupta added.

“Through biopsy, a tiny part of the native cells can be taken from the healthy part of a patient's dysfunctional organ and then seeded on the scaffold to form a tissue patch. Once a scaffold is ready within a week, it is coated with protein so that it becomes bio-receptive allowing cells to grow easily. The new organ thus formed on the scaffold is ready to be transplanted in the body,” he explained.

These scaffolds are the result of a 10-year-long research by professor Gupta and professor Alok Ray from IIT-D's centre for biomedical engineering and will be ready for animal testing by the end of this year.