Cardiologist swims English Channel for 3D bioprinter for children’s hospital

Subrata Thakar | | Cardiovascular Business | Interventional Cardiology

Andrew Wolf, MD, a 63-year-old cardiologist, swam the English Channel to raise £20,000, or roughly $26,000, in funds for a 3D bioprinter to be used at the Bristol Children’s Hospital in the United Kingdom.

The printer, BBC News reported, will be one of the first of its kind in the U.K. It will enable physicians to utilize a patient’s own stem cells to cultivate cardiac tissues that can be used after surgery to help with healing.

Cardiac doctor swims English Channel for Bristol Children's Hospital

"The bio-fixing which we are working towards will allow children to have one-off operations with their own stem cells so they will not have to have repeated operations as they grow into adulthood,” Wolf told BBC News before embarking on the swim. “I want to see Bristol being right at the forefront of this development with a new cutting-edge service which will have a huge impact for young cardiac patients across the region.”

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Subrata Thakar

As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.

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