This month a team of Israeli researchers announced the breakthrough of “printing” the world’s first 3-D vascularized, engineered heart by utilizing tissue cells from the patient’s own biological material. Up to now, with 3-D printer technology scientists have only successfully printed simple tissues without blood.
The director of the project, Prof. Tal Dvir of Tel Aviv University’s School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology said they successfully printed “an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers”.
He went on to say, “People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels. Our results demonstrate the potential of our approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future”.
Dvir explained, the advancement involved the use of collagen and glycoproteins, that were processed into a personalized hydrogel that served as the printing “ink”, enabling the 3-D printing of complex tissue models required for a heart. The process utilized fatty tissues that were separated and “reprogrammed” into cellular and a-cellular materials. Stem cells that became heart cells were then created from this material.
An additional advantage of this process is the heart is made from the patient’s own biological material; therefore, it reduces the likelihood the transplant may fail.
Dvir said, “in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely”. This will constitute a revolutionary advancement in the science of organ transplants.
Commercialization Overview
In previous Newsletters we have been examined the processes for thinking of new ideas and developing them into 
workable prototypes. Clearly, Prof. Dvir and his team have accomplished this, but the final step in their effort will be the commercialization of their innovation.
In this month’s Newsletter, we will consider some of the major components of an effective Commercialization process.
Commercialization, the last of these three innovation tool areas involves the final steps necessary for the release of an innovation to the marketplace. Keep in mind that it takes an estimated sixty good ideas to generate one blockbuster new product, so it is necessary to be patient and have realistic expectations of your innovation results.
A Cross Functional Team Can Effectively Bring Ideas to Market
Commercialization requires a focused, cross functional/cross-departmental team to bring an idea to market. These teams consist of a small number of employees from different functional areas within the organization.
According to Sheila Simsarian Webber, a noted innovation expert, successful cross-functional teams are led by a project manager, whose task is to draw on the unique background of each team member to bring a product to market in the best, most complete, and fastest way possible. For example, a team may consist of personnel from engineering, inventory, manufacturing, marketing, sales and finance.
Members of a development team from the prior Ideation or Development phases may continue as part of a Commercialization team. Relatedly, from an overall standpoint is it advisable to keep your innovation team lean during the Development phase, then add resources during the commercialization effort once the concept has been validated.
Utilize the Stage-Gate® Process to Validate Projects/Products
The Stage-Gate Process is an innovation tool used to ensure only viable projects progress through the Development and Commercialization phases. It describes the optimal steps or stages of a new product development process.
Throughout the Development and Commercialization phases, utilization of a stage-gate or similar approach will produce a more effective product development process. This tool can be used to avoid the unwise consumption of resources by projects that don’t merit the organization’s limited resources.
With a Stage-gate process, a project is divided into distinct stages or phases, which are separated by decision points, known as gates. At each gate, the project manager or steering committee decides whether the project merits continuation on to the next stage or phase. Typically, a Stage-gate process has five stages with four gates. The five stages are:
- Scoping the target market
- Business case creation
- Product development
- Testing and validation
- Launch
The Stage-gate process begins after the Ideation phase, and for projects that make it through all five stages, it typically ends with the post-launch review. Major new products go through the full five-phase process. Product line extensions or enhancement projects often use a reduced three-stage version, which combines the Scoping with the Business case creation stage, and the Product development stage with the Testing and validation stage.
Modification of the Stage-Gate® Process
A modification to the strict stage-gate process can be achieved by utilizing an Overlapping Stages process. This 
approach allows for the next step to begin before the end of the prior step. For instance, Product development could begin before Scoping the target market phase has been completed. The objective of the Overlapping stages process is that greater speed can be achieved during the Development and Commercialization phases by allowing the next phase to begin before the completion of the prior phase.
An Alternative to the Stage-Gate® Process
An alternative to the Stage-Gate process is a Spiral process. In a Spiral process, the cross functional/cross-departmental team cycles quickly proceed through the stages from Scoping the target market to Testing. Ideas are retained or jettisoned in successive passes, with the objective that each successive pass through the process proceeds at greater speed and lower cost.
The principle of the Spiral process is that greater speed is obtained in the Commercialization process by forcing the team to get various department’s feedback quickly and frequently.
The concept is that the feedback loops contained in the entire Spiral process are repeated multiple times as the product “spirals” to completion – which can be very advantageous in fast-moving industries such as high tech or software.
While, the Overlapping Stages and Stage-Gate processes are appropriate for projects that necessitate linear development, such as ones requiring regulatory approval, the Spiral approach is appropriate for products where speed to market is an overriding concern.
Where to Start
Utilizing a Cross Functional team enables you to effectively bring ideas to market by consistently obtaining input from various parties that are instrumental to successful innovation.
Depending on the nature of the product being developed, the Cross Functional team should use a Stage-Gate®, Overlapping Stages, or Spiral process to validate projects/products as they move through the commercialization process.
If you could use assistance with effectively commercializing your organization’s innovations, please contact us using the information below so we can be a resource to you in this paramount area.
Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. is an Innovation and Business Planning firm. During the past 17, years we have shown over 1,200 companies how to achieve their goals by using our unique, comprehensive, and systematic FastTrak Innovation Program™, Innovation Academy™, and Structure of Success™ methodologies. Using the components in these methodologies, each month we examine an aspect of how to transform your business or organization into a true 21st Century enterprise.
Office: (770) 642-4220
www.FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
George.Horrigan@FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
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