Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) developed a patient-specific approach to enlarge pediatric airways narrowed by severe subglottic stenosis. The method uses decellularized cartilage combined with patient-derived cells in a preclinical model, aimed at accelerating reconstruction timelines and reducing limitations of current graft sources. The team, including investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP’s Center for Pediatric Airway Disorders, reported results in Nature Communications. They framed the approach as a translational path to address donor site morbidity and insufficient costal cartilage volume in young children. For the clinical and product community, the work advances personalized graft concepts in laryngotracheal reconstruction, where delayed surgery and higher revision risk are persistent unmet needs.